A majority of the New Hampshire legislature thought it would be a good idea to allow local towns and cities to charge citizens for public documents. The (incorrect) presumption is that citizens are more likely to abuse RTK laws for Evil than local government.
My opposition to HB1002 is well documented, but I also offered suggestions as to why it is a bad idea, that this fine or tax will be abused, and that it undermines transparency; I even suggested solutions to address costs associated with local government meeting the requirements of the Right to Know law 91a. The legislature thought it better to let local governments punish citizens and make Freedom of Information Act requests increasingly unaffordable to all but only to a select few.
If you are a legislator and you don’t think that is what will happen, you are not just an idiot; you are a dangerous one.
The Governor has not signed it yet, so there is time to stop it. They do not have a veto-proof majority of support for this backward-pointing thing. But if you’d like another example of what will happen, CBS 13 News in Maine asked for the Governor’s travel records. Janet Mills’ office said that comes to $1400.00 dollars, please.
The Office of Maine Governor Janet Mills is seeking more than $1,400 in fees from the CBS13 I-Team after we requested public documents related to her out-of-state travel over the past year. https://t.co/nuwPe2xRf8
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) May 24, 2024
Some might say the News outlet can afford it, but why is that even in the calculus? The correct question is, why are we making it unaffordable for almost everyone else? What right does a government that uses the word equity have to undermine it when it suits them by creating a two-tiered or two-class system of government accountability?
NGOs, lobbyists, Lawyers, Large corporations, and the very well-off have access to records searches that the rest of us cannot begin to consider. We Should rename HB1002, The Transparency Privilege Act.
Contact Governor Sununu. Politely ask that he please veto HB1002, and let’s find a different way to address this issue without compromising transparency and accountability.
