Sunlight is starting to break through at the Capitol in the final month of the Texas legislative session.

Open government measures have won passage in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, and more House votes are scheduled on legislation championed by the broad-based Texas Sunshine Coalition.

However, this transparency legislation is still waiting to be heard in the Senate. Action is needed soon in the upper chamber to protect Texans’ information rights before the Legislature adjourns June 2.

It’s simple: Access to information builds public trust in government.

House members approved House Bill 4219 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, requiring governmental bodies to respond to Texas Public Information Act requests, even if no such records exist, and establishing a complaint system for failure to respond. The common-sense measure is now in the Senate, where Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is the author.

Also moving in the House are HB 2248, by Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, allowing recovery of attorneys’ fees in certain Texas Public Information Act lawsuits, and HB 3719, by Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, restoring access to dates of birth in public records to help lenders, landlords, journalists and voters verify someone’s identity when there’s a common name.

House Bills 4990 and 4991, by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, are gaining traction, too. They require the Attorney General’s Office to operate an open government hotline and require open government training for outside lawyers hired by governments to handle Public Information Act requests.

All these bipartisan bills have Senate companions. They are initiatives backed by the Sunshine Coalition, a group of 16 organizations with different missions but united in the notion that transparency allows us all to participate in our government.

While advocating for positive open government legislation, transparency proponents have also been speaking out about measures that would thwart the free flow of information.

For instance, Senate Bill 986 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, would flip the Texas Public Information Act upside down, undoing the law’s structure that has served Texans well for over 50 years. The TPIA emphasizes the power of individuals over the government by requiring government officials in most cases to seek permission from the Attorney General’s Office if they want to withhold information from the public.

The Bettencourt bill would allow governmental bodies to decide on their own what information to release to requestors without getting a neutral ruling. If requestors are denied information they would have to navigate a tedious appeals process, without the benefit of knowing what is being withheld from the documents, and may simply give up.

Another troubling Bettencourt bill, SB 2680, would force delays for requestors in filing a TPIA lawsuit when they must resort to the courts to obtain public information.

Before legislators adjourn, let’s urge them to stand up for the citizens of Texas and their information rights. Approving sunshine laws – and rejecting proposals that block information – help Texans keep a watch on their government.

The Sunshine Coalition includes the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas; Texas Association of Broadcasters; Texas Press Association; Texas Public Policy Foundation; Institute for Justice; ACLU of Texas; Every Texan; Common Cause; Grassroots America; League of Women Voters of Texas; SMU School of Law First Amendment Clinic; Texas Appleseed; Texas Association of Licensed Investigators; Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom; Public Citizen; PublicData.com.

By Kelley Shannon, executive director of the non-profit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

For more information go to www.foift.org.

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