Conservatives, liberals can agree on importance of open-records law

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher

Wouldn’t you know it? The County Line takes a week off, and the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee gets into major mischief. Just for fun, at 9 p.m. the day before the July 4 weekend, the committee suddenly decided to make mincemeat of the state’s open records law by tacking it on to the budget bill.

What the open records law has to do with budgets escapes me, but slipping these sorts of things in at the last minute is often done, presumably in the hope that no one is watching.

Wrong! Shortly my email lit up like a Christmas tree. One might expect outrage from the lefty liberal media. But this was such a blatant assault on citizens’ right to get information on their government that even conservative groups howled like stuck pigs. Leading the charge was Wisconsin’s Republican Attorney General, Brad Schimel.

In case you missed it, what the bill would do is exempt the legislature from scrutiny by the public or the press.

Specifically, the legislature was attempting to exempt itself from open records laws by eliminating public access to all state lawmakers’ communication, as well as drafting files of legislation.

Put more bluntly, laws would be presented as done deals with no opportunity for the public to know who wanted the law and what influence they might have had over lawmakers. Legislators could hand out sweet deals to their donors and friends without fear of public backlash.

Had this legislation passed, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would not have had access to early budget drafts that changed the University of Wisconsin mission statement. We would not know that mining interests gave donations that likely influenced legislators.

We would not know a lot of stuff about how our government works, which, as it turns out, is an affront to both liberals and conservatives.

The fact that it was attempted is not surprising. What the heck, maybe nobody would catch on. What is amazing is that no one will admit to the deed, even though all 12 Republicans on the committee voted in favor of it.

They simply have no idea where such an idea could have come from, except possibly out of thin air.

It feels like playing a game of Clue. Was it Colonel Mustard in the parlor with the revolver, or perhaps Professor Plum in the pantry with the dagger?

Some speculate it was Gov. Walker whispering orders to his minions on the Joint Finance Committee, while others contend that no proposal reaches this level without the approval of the Joint Finance Committee co-chairs, Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. John Nygren, both Republicans.

Whatever the case, the backlash hit with such force that everyone, including the governor and the Republican leadership, disavowed the changes immediately.

They were just trying to make government more efficient, they claimed. Indeed, that is probably true. Government is far more efficient when it does not have to answer to the people.

Though the elected officials behind this epic boondoggle now say, “Oh, never mind, just kidding,” things may not be over.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, is demanding to know from whom sprang this brilliant idea. He said his organization would sue if that information were not forthcoming.

“The responsibility for this, we know, goes much deeper than just the people who came up with these horrible ideas,” he said. “My intention will be to litigate this. I will sue them if they deny me access to that information.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was so enraged that the newspaper ran an editorial on the front page, something rarely done in this industry.

It said in part:

“This eyes-wide-open attempt to blind the public was, of course, never discussed in open session.

“And state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), co-chair of the powerful budget-writing committee, wouldn’t say who inserted the changes into the bill.

“Nygren assures us, though, that the changes will be good for the public.

“Just who does he think he’s kidding?

“Secrecy may be good for powerful legislators such as Nygren or for his co-chair, state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills). And secrecy may be just fine for legislators who don’t want the public to know what they are doing or with whom they are working.

“But secrecy is a plague on citizens. These proposals would set back by decades the cause of open government in Wisconsin. Any representative who votes to approve a budget containing such broad limits on the public’s right to know is not fit to hold office.”

Anyone of any political party who could disagree with that must have a very weak understanding of democracy and government by the people and for the people.

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