During the legislative session and when lawmakers are not in session, the Legislatureís website at legis.sd.gov provides a wealth of information about proposed laws, committee hearings and votes. But the website is only valuable if information that the public has a right to know is made available.
Despite claims by lawmakers and state government officials that South Dakota is taking great strides toward transparency, much of what public officials and elected representatives are up to remains hidden.
While Gov. Dennis Daugaard has taken the initiative to make state government more open and created a website (open.sd.gov) where the public can go to get information about local and state governments, his Open Government Task Force failed miserably, in our view, when only three of its recommended bills ñ minor ones at that ñ were passed by the 2013 Legislature. Lawmakers, apparently, don't share the governor's view on transparency in government. Continue>>>
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