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Tampa Tribune Keeping Government In The Sunshine Lawmakers in Florida are considering dozens of bills that would close the curtain on the state's Sunshine law. It is a scary trend that stands to hurt citizens who elect leaders to represent their interests, not those of special interests. The Sunshine law exists because a previous generation of Tallahassee lawmakers, dubbed the "Pork Chop Gang," liked to meet behind closed doors then tell everyone what was good for them. Most of the time, it meant spending most of our money on pet projects in North Florida. Florida citizens mobilized, and in 1967, encouraged passage of one of the country's most powerful laws on public access to government records and meetings. The law allows us to find out how our tax money is being spent and how well government is working. Still, every year, some lawmakers, responding to special interests, try to chip away at our guarantees. Which is why on this third Sunshine Sunday, newspapers across the state are writing to tell you about efforts to limit your rights. Some of the 50-odd exemptions proposed this year seem innocuous enough, but others serve little purpose except to restrict access. Take the proposal by state Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, who wants to expand the Sunshine exemptions given Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. Additionally, he wants to give extra exemptions to the proposed Florida Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute, a pet project of House Speaker Johnnie Byrd. The lawmaker wants to give the centers the same exemptions given state universities doing sponsored research. But Moffitt's proprietary information is already exempted from the Sunshine law. Besides, not all of Moffitt's business transactions should be kept secret. The public should be able to find out who's doing business with public facilities, how the facility stands on accreditation standards and who is working there. In another move, Rep. Lindsay Harrington, R-Punta Gorda, and Sen. Durrell Peaden, R-Crestview, want to kill a public record that helps police find criminals. The bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, passed in the House last week. Harrington and Peaden say data bases of pawn shop gun sales should be eliminated because they are "de facto registration lists." They argue that police could use the information to profile innocent gun owners. There's no evidence the information has been used for profiling. However, there is ample evidence that police have used the database to track gun thefts and capture thieves. Another bill by Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, would exempt the cellular telephone billing records of current and former police officers. The idea is to protect the officers. It doesn't address protecting taxpayers who, time and time again, have seen public servants run up cell phone bills for personal business. Not all of the proposed exemptions are bad. Companion bills offered by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Sarasota, would keep diagrams and blue prints of building plans, except as applied to the development of comprehensive plans, exempt from public scrutiny. In these days where entertainment sites could be targets for terrorists, such an exemption makes sense so long as the public is not deprived input on the look and design costs of public buildings. As lawmakers contemplate laws that would limit public input and public examination, they must understand that disclosure is the people's choice and open government our expectation. |
