After resisting a similar amendment Monday, Sen. Dave Thomas suggested the change himself Tuesday.
As originally written, HB12 would have blocked public access to elected officials' e-mails under the state open records law unless the sender or receiver agreed to release it. Thomas cut that line out of the bill, but added protection for lawmakers' personal files and correspondence. The South Weber Republican said the changes will leave lawmakers' current policy for e-mail in place. Legislators do not treat their e-mails as public records unless they print them out on paper.
"We're just going back to the way we were before," Thomas said.
With no debate, Utah senators also approved HB28, which would keep Utahns' addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers private unless they are listed on already public documents, such as voter registration records.
Some lawmakers were unhappy with Thomas' concessions on HB12 to the Utah Media Coalition, a group of more than 40 daily and weekly newspapers and television stations.
Despite the changes, Logan Republican Sen. Lyle Hillyard still warned lawmakers to be prepared to send their constituents a disclaimer that every e-mail they write could become fodder for newspapers.
"I can guarantee there are people who will send you very personal things who would be horrified to think the information that their son is on drugs would now be open to any newspaper reporter," Hillyard said.
But Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, questioned the plausibility of that scenario. "There seems to be a fear that there is some entity that is going to be trolling through every single e-mail that we get. I can hardly see what the press-worthiness of it is," McCoy said in earlier debate. "Seems to me this is kind of a manufactured problem and a solution to meet it."
The bill was in trouble earlier in the week and nearly failed on a tie vote again Tuesday - until Senate President John Valentine endorsed it. Then, with a vote of 24 to 4, senators sent the bill to the House, which agreed to the changes.
The bill now goes to Huntsman's desk. Spokesman Mike Mower said the governor's office will review it. But if the Media Coalition no longer opposes the bill, Mower said the governor probably will sign it.
