[Vision2020] Open Meetings - Closed!

[thansen@moscow.com]

Question:  How about televising state legislature sessions?  It is done locally 
on occasion.  It is done at the federal level on C-SPAN and C-SPAN2.  Why not 
the state level?

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

> It appears that our man Tom Trail has some backbone and hopefully will
> get some attention from the southern Idaho Mafia.
> 
> Please let him know your feelings on this important issue.
> 
> Dick Schmidt
> 
> (Taken from the Spokesman-Review)
> 
> Lawmaker stresses openness
> Moscow representative says legislators should support state law
> requiring open meetings 
> 
> 
> BOISE _ Idaho lawmakers should step forward and say they support the
> state law that requires their meetings to be open to the public,
> according to Moscow Rep. Tom Trail. 
> 
> "There has been a distressful increase in public distrust of elected
> officials," said Trail, a fourth-term Republican. "Nothing raises flags
> faster than an announcement that what was an open meeting will now be
> restricted." 
> 
> On Thursday, Trail introduced a resolution in the House stating that the
> Legislature affirms the requirements for open meetings as set forth in
> state law, and "directs all levels of government, including committees
> of the Idaho Legislature, to strictly follow the requirements of such
> law." 
> 
> "I've got some constituents who wanted to do this," Trail said. "If
> leadership does not allow this bill to proceed, I think it's up to the
> people to hold 'em accountable. If we get a hearing, we'll have a vote
> up or down." 
> 
> Trail's legislation is a concurrent resolution, HCR 35. 
> 
> Idaho's open meeting law requires all meetings of legislative committees
> to be open to the public. But last week, the resources committees in the
> House and Senate held closed-door meetings to discuss the Snake River
> Adjudication water rights case. 
> 
> Democrats on the Senate committee walked out and refused to participate,
> saying the closed meeting violated the state law and the Idaho
> Constitution, which requires the business of the Legislature to be
> conducted in public. 
> 
> The two secret sessions followed five closed-door meetings legislative
> committees held last year. 
> 
> Trail's resolution says in part, "Open meetings are integral to the
> citizenry's trust in the Idaho Legislature. ... When open meeting laws
> are violated, it creates the appearance that secret deals are being
> concluded behind doors closed to the public and other interested
> parties." 
> 
> Trail said, "In an election year, legislators who don't have a
> commitment to the open meeting act ought to be held accountable." 
> 
> Every seat in the state Legislature is up for election this year. 
> 
> House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, said he doesn't expect Trail's
> bill to go anywhere. 
> 
> "This one, this doesn't mean anything, because the statute can't trump
> rules," Newcomb said. "What you've got to do is have a rule change." 
> 
> Newcomb noted that last spring, lawmakers received an attorney general's
> opinion saying their internal rules, which allow closed meetings in some
> circumstances, supersede the state law. Other attorneys, including those
> for the media, have strongly disagreed. 
> 
> "You can pass all the statutes in the world, but the rules are still
> there," Newcomb said. 
> 
> Newcomb said there are "a lot of these in the pipeline," referring to
> proposals dealing with open or closed legislative meetings. 
> 
> Last week's meetings, he said, were on "attorney-client type stuff,
> which isn't really for public dissemination because of all the parties
> involved. ... That's legit." 
> 
> The Democratic senators who walked out of the closed Senate committee
> meeting met separately with the state Attorney General's Office to be
> briefed on the court case. They said that was more appropriate than
> convening an official closed meeting of a panel that by law is required
> to be open.
> 
> ..Betsy Z. Russell can be reached toll-free at (866) 336-2854 or by
> e-mail at bzrussell@Rmci.net. Russell is president of the Idaho Press
> Club, which advocates for open meetings and open records.
> 



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