Office of Information Practices

February 15, 2012

The bills proposed by the state Office of Information Practices (OIP) will be advancing asS.B. 2858, S.D. 1 (appeals bill) and S.B. 2859, S.D. 1 (Sunshine bill). The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative Gilbert Keith-Agaran, decided to hold the companion House bills (H.B. 2596 and H.B. 2597) in order to work with one set of bills when the Senate’s bills move over to the House.

Both Senate bills are single referrals to the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee (JDL) chaired by Senator Clayton Hee and were passed out of committee. At the JDL decision making, the committee decided to pass out S.B. 2858 with amendments requested by the League of Women Voters to place a 30-day time limit for agencies to file a judicial appeal from an OIP decision. The time limit is similar to those already found in current court rules.

JDL also voted to pass S.B. 2859 with amendments that would clarify that the board must provide only the social media addresses or identifications used for board discussions subject to the Sunshine Law and not those relating to board members’ personal usage. The JDL committee’s amendments would also remove the electronic notice provisions of the original bill, beginning on page 6, line 15 through page 11, line 20. These provisions will instead be addressed in S.B. 2234, which is another bill requiring electronic posting of meeting agendas and minutes. S.B. 2234 has been jointly referred to JDL and the Senate Economic Development and Technology Committee (EDT) chaired by Senator Carol Fukunaga, and is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday, February 22, 2012, at 9:30 a.m.

OIP appreciates the widespread support that its bills have received and will keep you informed of their progress here on the What’s New page.