Legislature moves toward tougher open records law

From Radio Iowa:

An effort to put more teeth in Iowa’s “sunshine” laws is on Governor Branstad’s “must-do” list for legislators. “We feel strongly that’s something that’s needed,” Branstad says. “We need an enforcement mechanism for the open meetings/open records law. They should not adjourn without doing that.”

The Republican-led House voted Tuesday to accept much of what the Democratically-led Senate wants in order to more strictly enforce Iowa’s open meetings and open records laws. Representative Vicki Lensing, a Democrat from Iowa City, says she’s heard plenty of complaints about local governments that haven’t followed the law.