Update, 1/29: More coverage on Colorado Spending Transparency and Ed News Colorado, as well as a kind link from the Open Records blog. This morning the Colorado Senate Education Committee got a bit of a surprise, it might seem, with a slew of concerned citizens coming forward to testify in support of Senate Bill 57 (PDF) (sponsored by state senator Ted Harvey) - which would bring something akin to full-fledged financial transparency to Colorado public schools. It's unusual to see more than 15 average citizens come forward to testify for a piece of legislation - and rarer yet, to have many of them do so quite eloquently. Most were from the metro Denver area, a couple hailed from Weld County, and one of them drove three hours over the … [Read more...]
Anti-Public Records Bill Begs Question: What are Colorado Dems Hiding?
Today's Denver Post updates readers on a Democrat-sponsored bill in the Colorado statehouse that would erect more barriers between citizens and public records:A draft of [House Majority Leader Alice] Madden's [D - Boulder] bill proposes several changes in addition to requiring proof of citizenship, among them: • Citizens would have to deliver requests by hand or by certified mail instead of through a wider variety of methods allowed under current law. • More of lawmakers' e- mails — such as information from and about constituents — could be exempt. • Agencies would more easily be able to take an extra seven days to respond to requests. • Agencies could refuse to release records that contain confidential information … [Read more...]