Cloudy Texas
The Austin American-Statesman is reporting multiple threats to open records in Texas going through the legislature before the session adjourns:
Organizations representing news media and private investigators are armed with lists of scores of bills that each group says would unfairly and unnecessarily restrict disclosure of some governmental records.Arlington private investigator Randy Kildow, president of the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators, said he's been playing defense throughout the session as his group monitors more than 100 bills relating to disclosure of government information. "Every one of them hurts," he said.
Advocates for open government say that public information is under increasing attack, particularly as records become more accessible via the Internet and people worry about privacy. Some open records advocates are calling for a study of the Texas Public Information Act, with an eye toward overhauling a law that was passed in 1973, long before personal computers and the Internet became commonplace in homes and businesses.