Republicans in the Legislature took back a proposal to gut the state’s open records laws and severely restrict what legislative documents would be available to the public Saturday.
Gov. Scott Walker and GOP leaders issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to remove the language in its entirety. The statement came less than 48 hours after the Joint Finance Committee passed this provision, along with the rest of the state budget, and amid severe bipartisan backlash.
“We are steadfastly committed to open and accountable government,” the joint statement said. “The intended policy goal of these changes was to provide a reasonable solution to protect constituents’ privacy and to encourage a deliberative process between elected officials and their staff in developing policy. It was never intended to inhibit transparent government in any way.”
Walker’s office released the statement, with signatures from Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, along with Joint Finance co-chairs Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, who both voted for the measure Thursday night.
The finance committee slipped the open records provisions into a budget wrap-up motion Thursday night. The committee voted 12-4 along party lines to approve the motion and the rest of the budget.
The language would have considerably limited what communications between legislators would be available to the public. It would have made it the lawmakers’ discretion what emails, drafts and other “deliberative materials” were public record.
