The public has a right to monitor and have ready access to all the documents and records it owns. When some of those records are kept from public view, there is a greater opportunity for government business to be conducted in ways the public would not condone. Transparency keeps powerful people honest and strengthens the public's trust in the people they elect.

Simply put, open government is more responsible to the people it serves.

However, in three bills headed to the Utah Legislature, lawmakers are trying not merely to "tweak," as they say, the Government Records Access and Management Act, but to change its basic presumption under the current law that virtually all records prepared, owned, received or retained by the government relate to the conduct of the public's business and therefore should be accessible to the public.

A legislative task force assigned to update GRAMA to protect personal information about individuals has instead arbitrarily decided to redefine what constitutes a "public record," make official the current limited public access to e-mails sent between legislators and constituents and extend the limits to other public officials. It also would make obtaining public documents more difficult and expensive. From the governor's office to city hall, the public's business may be kept from public view.

One bill would designate as private any e-mails between a legislator and citizen, unless the recipent or the sender wants to make it public. Currently, only legislators' e-mails that are printed are considered public.

There is no need to block access to e-mail or written letters to protect privacy. GRAMA already protects from public view such things as personal notes, calendars and temporary drafts of documents. Legislators can receive personal messages on personal phones or computers.

Another alarming provision of the legislation would allow agencies to charge fees above the actual cost to print documents. Taxes already fund the creation and maintenance of documents. Additional fees are unreasonable and an added burden on the public.

GRAMA has worked well for 13 years. It should be allowed to continue protecting the public's right to know how its government operates.