Southwest Florida lawmakers help add to Sunshine Law exemptions

An annual review of the state Legislature’s record on open government issues reveals that while a dozen bills providing Sunshine Law exemptions won approval, only two were passed over objections from a leading open government watchdog group.

The First Amendment Foundation took positions on 17 issues including proposals for additional exemptions, on which companion bills were filed in each legislative branch.

Staving off most of the attempts to increase Government in the Sunshine exemptions was the high point of a year that still saw all of the bills endorsed by the group defeated. 

“It was a decent year there were far more exemptions created last year than this year,” said Barbara Peterson, executive director of the First Amendment Foundation, who said her group carefully considers proposed exemptions.” Read more…