Some Florida lawmakers received better grades this year when it came to transparency in government, but erosion of the state’s famed “Sunshine Laws” continued with more exemptions passed.
Lawmakers passed 12 bills creating new exemptions this year, including measures to block access to building plans for health care facilities; U.S. Census Bureau address information; data used by a state-run insurance company; and documents revealing the valuation of surplus lands held by water management districts.
The exemptions continue a bipartisan trend among lawmakers, who have approved more than 269 of them to the Sunshine Laws since 1995. The laws require government meetings to be publicly announced in advance; require officials on government boards to meet in public; and government records to be made available to the public.
“The whole point of open government and access to government information is the opportunity to oversee our government and hold it accountable,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, an open government advocacy group that produced the report card in conjunction with the Florida Society of News Editors. Read more…