FSNE - Sunshine Sunday

"It is important to be mindful of the fact that what makes our nation great is not how well we can make and keep secrets. Rather it is our legacy of an open government - a defining factor of our democracy - a mark that sets us apart from most other nations in the world."

- J. William Leonard, director, Information Security Oversight Office

Mr. Leonard's office, a part of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., is responsible to the president for policy oversight of the federal government's security classification system. Though his reference to keeping and making secrets was made in the context of U.S. national security, open government as a defining factor of democracy is equally relevant at the state level.

The Florida Constitution guarantees citizen access to government records and meetings. But our tradition of government in the sunshine is under assault. Fears over identity theft, the use of public information for private gain, and unwilling or uneducated officials conspire to prevent citizens from exercising their constitutionally protected rights.

State lawmakers play a major role in combating the growing number of institutions and moneyed private-sector interests seeking to block citizen access.

The Florida Constitution allows lawmakers to enact exemptions to the law. Florida voters reinforced their commitment to open government by approving a 2002 constitutional amendment that requires a two-thirds majority to adopt exemptions.

Despite the voters' clear intent, the parade of exemption requests continues unabated. This time last year, state lawmakers proposed more than 30 exemptions. Currently more than 60 are under consideration.

One of the more egregious would potentially seal financial and other personal records of law enforcement officers under investigation for misconduct.

Senate Bill 652, sponsored by Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, would close those records forever - even when the investigation is concluded. Bank account numbers, for example, are already exempt from disclosure. The bill as currently proposed would provide greater privacy protections for police officers than for ordinary citizens.

Another example accompanies the pet project of House Speaker Johnnie Byrd to establish the Florida Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The scope of the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, is so broad that it includes sealing internal auditing controls and reports. That's precisely the kind of information that would allow citizens to independently review the center's performance.

A third proposal would prevent the state from maintaining any list or registry of privately owned firearms, including records from pawn shops. The House approved HB 155, sponsored by Rep. Lindsay Harrington, R-Punta Gorda, over the objections of law enforcement interests who say the proposal would hinder legitimate criminal investigations. The Senate version of the bill (SB 1152) is now being debated.

Citizens must also monitor the push to move state government programs, services and functions to the private sector. Increasingly, business lobbyists are seeking to restrict access to public records under the guise of protecting "trade secrets."

The Legislature must protect public access to information, lest private contractors be shielded from the scrutiny necessary to ensure that tax dollars are being spent wisely.

Oversight of government functions and expenditures is one of the duties of lawmakers, and oversight of lawmakers is one of the duties of citizens who elect them.

If the Legislature is willing to allow closure of records involving expenditure of tax dollars, as several of these proposed exemptions would do, taxpayer-voters need to step in and say "no."

Convenient confidentiality for special or private interests is not a good enough reason for blocking the sun.