BAD BILL ALERT

WENTWORTH BILL MAKES IT HARDER
TO OBTAIN PUBLIC INFORMATION

As if Senator Wentworth thumbing his nose at us and failing to protect 1604 in the CDA moratorium wasn't enough, this is OUTRAGEOUS! Read about TxDOT's abuse of public information requests here. Let's also remember TxDOT kept the Cintra contract for the TTC secret for 18 months even AFTER the Attorney General ordered it open.

SB 889 COSTS THE PUBLIC TO OBTAIN PUBLIC INFORMATION

SB 889 by Senator Wentworth dramatically restricts the public's ability to access their own public information. This bill increases the financial costs to the public for accessing public information by allowing agencies to charge just for inspecting information, in addition to copying it, and capping the number of "free" pages that may be viewed at 100 per month. This bill will quash efforts by non-profits, advocacy groups, citizens, and journalists to report on and influence government activities.

Contact the House State Affairs committee and tell them you oppose SB 889 because it restricts democracy and open government.

Chair: Rep. David Swinford, David.Swinford@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0470

Vice Chair: Rep. Ken Paxton, Ken.Paxton@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0356

Budget & Oversight Chair: Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, Corbin.VanArsdale@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0661

Members:
Rep. Wayne Christian, Wayne.Christian@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0556
Rep. Byron Cook, Byron.Cook@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463, 0730
Rep. Jessica Farrar, Jessica.Farrar@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0620
Rep. Dan Flynn, Dan.Flynn@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0880
Rep. Tan Parker, Tan.Parker@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0688
Rep. Marc Veasey, Marc.Veasey@house.state.tx.us, (512) 463-0716

WHAT THE BILL DOES:
Section 1. Charges accrue for over 100 pages of information. This is an increase from 50 pages under current law, BUT once you are provided the 100 pages, then on another request in same calendar month, charges accrued for cost of materials, overhead, photocopies, and any other cost or expense actually incurred in locating, compiling, and photocopying the public information to comply with the request or provide the copies. Under current law, 50"free" pages are per request, regardless of number of requests made in any given timeframe.

Section 3: Allows agencies to require deposit or bond just to inspect records (regardless of number of pages), additional charges for copying. This changes current law that assesses costs only for copying records.