A bill (HB3637/SB3280) that gives more guidance on public records advanced a key house committee last night, but it differs sharply from the bill that Senators could take up as early as tomorrow.
Debate over the bill took two and half hours. State Representative Ulysses Jones charged the bill was rewritten by special interests. Open government advocate Frank Gibson, who directs the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said that claim was untrue.
“We thought that after two years of study, that the things in there, this includes local government and us, that the areas where there was most consensus, more agreement, that it made sense to proceed with those, you know, out of the study committee. They agreed to it, everything that’s in here has been agreed to by the Municipal League, county commissioners, school boards, our organization.
The house version of the bill gives state officials seven days to produce a public record or say how long it will take. The senate version gives officials five days.
The bill also includes a provision sponsored by Nashville democrat Mary Pruitt. It requires elected or appointed officials be notified when a public record request is about them.
Jacqueline Fellows and Associated Press reports contributed to this story.
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To listen to a “Capitol Hill Conservation” aired earlier on WPLN about this bill, click here.
Citizens arguing in favor of the open records provisions Tuesday were Marian Ott, League of Women Voters, and Dick Williams of Common Cause.
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