By DAVID A. MANN
David.Mann@newsandtribune.com
>>SOUTHERN INDIANA —
An Indiana House Bill that would have imposed fines on public officials who knowingly violated the state’s open records and open door laws did not pass this year.
The legislation, known as House Bill 1075, was unanimously approved by the Indiana House of Representatives in January. Shortly after, it was referred to the Indiana Senate’s committee on Commerce and Public Policy & Interstate Cooperation, where it sat until the 2010 legislative session ended earlier this month.
Currently, those alleging violations of open meeting or public records law are first encouraged to seek a nonbinding opinion from the state’s public access counselor. They can file lawsuits over their complaints, regardless of the public access counselor’s opinion, and judges can order that records be made public or that open-meeting violations be stopped. However, there are no punitive fines on those who violate the law.
House Bill 1075 would have allowed judges to impose fines of $100 for the first violation and up to $500 for additional violations.
The fiscal impact — first calculated to about $67,500 — of the bill was the primary stumbling block, said Steve Key, general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, which lobbied for the bill.
Incidentally, there was language in the bill that would have allowed the public access counselor to review documents that contained under-contention redaction marks. Key said that would have increased the counselor’s workload, so additional money was requested for the office.
That language was removed, Key said, bringing the fiscal impact down to about $4,000. However, even with the change, no hearing was ever granted.
“There was somewhat of a minimal financial impact,” explained Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, a co-sponsor of the bill. “We felt this was important enough to move forward in the house. Obviously, the Senate felt otherwise.
Stemler said any bill that contained a financial impact was not looked upon favorably this session because of state funding woes. Additionally, he said, timing was a factor, as this year’s was a short session. Property tax caps, an ethics bill, a jobs bill and other matters took precedent, Stemler said.
Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, who chairs the committee on Commerce and Public Policy & Interstate Cooperation, was called this week, but could not be reached.
Coincidentally, the Senate unanimously passed a very similar bill during the 2009 session, which died for a lack of a committee hearing then in the House.
“I have no evidence that anything conspiratorial or diabolical was taking place. It’s disappointing,” Key said, noting that the press association would try again to have the bill passed next year.
