A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would eliminate the distribution of free government almanacs to newspapers across the state, ironically during the week dedicated to government transparency.
Rep. Pat Strachota, R-West Bend, said she introduced the bill because a local newspaper editor told her that all of the information in the Blue Books are available online and it might be a way to save money.
Blue Books contain information on government bodies, statistics, election information, biographies of government officials and other information on public institutions and bodies across the state.
The books are shipped to all 265 newspapers that are listed in the Blue Book when it comes out every other year. Strachota said she did not have an exact estimate for the amount of money that could be saved, however she guessed each book costs about $9.
“It’s not an exorbitant amount, but I think it’s just an area when you’re looking for places to maybe save a few dollars, this was one of the areas,” Strachota said.
The bill would not eliminate the distribution of the books to legislators, libraries or district attorney offices in the state. Each state representative receives 350 Blue Books every other year, while each state senator receives 600.
Strachota said she was just responding to a suggestion put forth by one of her constituents and it was not intended to affect newspapers negatively.
“In these tight times, I just thought it was an easy solution. I didn’t think it would have a significant impact on newspapers,” Strachota said. “If someone wants one, they can come and ask, so I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
Peter Fox, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, said he has known about the possibility of the bill for several months and the timing of the bill coming out during Sunshine week is pure coincidence.
“It was just a quirk of timing,” Fox said. “The author of the bill should not be seen as trying to do something nefarious during Sunshine week.”
Although the WNA has no official position on the bill, Fox said Blue Books are extremely helpful for many newspapers across the state. There is no particular “groundswell” of support for the bill, as it was drafted as a response to one constituent’s request.
Although the same information is currently available online, Fox said that it can be much easier for a reporter to simply look it up in the book instead.
“When I was a reporter for Weekly News, I used the Blue Book and, frankly, I used them until they become dog-eared,” Fox said. “It’s much easier to open the Blue Book and have it just instantly available than it is to do the rigmarole to go online and then find the spot in the Blue Book that I’m looking for.”
Fox said they will leave it to the “best judgment” of the Legislature to determine the merits of the bill.
