BGR Opposes Bill Limiting Access to Public Records

NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research:

BGR is a private, nonprofit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use of public resources for the improvement of government in the New Orleans metropolitan area.

We were founded in 1932 in reaction to the corruption of the Huey Long era, and for the past 92 years, we have been working to make local government more effective, efficient, transparent, accountable and responsive to citizens.

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Our work to inform citizens about problems and solutions in local government depends on access to public records.

We are deeply concerned about SB 482, especially the section that would shield documents related to deliberations from government at all levels in Louisiana from public view. The bill would do so by exempting all records containing “advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations” that feed into any government decision-making or policy-making choices from state public records law.

Access to public records is essential for our democracy. Citizens have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent and to assess how government operations and policies are performing before they vote. Without public records, there is no accountability in government. There is no way to analyze programs to figure out what’s working and what’s not in hopes of making improvements. And without a window into decision-making, it’s difficult to understand priorities, approaches, assumptions, alternatives, and why a proposal came out the way it did. The process is often part of the story.

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Louisiana is losing population while the South as a region is thriving. One reason is ineffective policies that don’t serve citizens well. This is a time when we need more transparency, not less, if we are to come up with solutions that will meet people’s needs. We need state and local governments that welcome public scrutiny and facilitate the free flow of information because they want to perform for citizens.

Limiting public access to information will feed distrust in government. That is not the direction we should be going in. We need to strengthen, not weaken, state public records laws.

On Wednesday, April 17, BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray was at the Louisiana State Capitol to testify against SB 482, a bill that would limit public records laws in Louisiana. The full discussion at the Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on SB 482 can be seen here, beginning at 2:15:58.

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