Concerned about protecting Utahns' privacy, lawmakers started fiddling with the 13-year-old Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) six months ago. A task force originally formed to protect Utahns from identity theft and local governments from harassment could result in a more substantial shift in public records policy.
Legislators will debate three bills today before sending them on to the 2006 Legislature for consideration. The draft legislation would restrict access to documents that do not deal with "the conduct of the public's business," block access to records used only for "internal communication" and allow government workers to determine if a request for records was meant to "harass" or cause an "unreasonable expense" for the government. An extra fee could be charged for records provided in the form of a database. And journalists or individuals would have to appeal denied records requests to the State Records Committee, rather than taking their case directly to court, as is allowed currently.
The task force chairman, Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber, said lawmakers are trying to balance Utahns' expectations of privacy with the public's right to see government documents. Overall, Thomas says, the three bills will open up access to records.
"We're sticking to the overall intent [of the law]," he said. "We're opening up more records than some would say we're closing off."
But freedom-of-information advocates, the news media and even businesses that depend on public documents are giving the draft legislation mixed reviews.
Jeff Hunt, an attorney hired to represent The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret Morning News, The Society of Professional Journalists and Utah Press Association, urged the task force to reconsider all three bills in a letter sent last week to lawmakers. Hunt said GRAMA already includes provisions to prevent abuses of public records requests, protect Utahns' personal information and set reasonable fees for information.
Hunt said charging an extra fee for electronic records would allow discrimination against reporters.
"Many citizens and businesses, including newspapers and other members of the news media, perform a public service or benefit by obtaining information from the government and disseminating [reselling] it to the public," he wrote. "Such individuals and businesses should not be subject to an additional tariff in obtaining such information."
Thomas said lawmakers will consider amending the legislation to resolve some of Hunt's concerns.
Meeting today
The GRAMA Task Force meets today at 9 a.m. in the State Capitol Complex House Building, Room W125.
