The Utah legislature passed, and Gov. Herbert signed, HB477 which is an attempt to destroy government transparency. It is a bill that excludes cell phones and emails from GRAMA laws, imposes extremely high fees for information requests, and requires proof by preponderance of the evidence of wrongdoing before granting requests for communications that are suspected of being illegal.
It is an absolute assault on good governance and the proposition that government is for the people, of the people, and by the people. The public response is universal outcry, but the legislators and governor don't care because there is basically no threat that they will be voted out of office in Utah's one-party system. So they can pass laws which hide what they do and say from the public and assault the very contract between the governing and the governed and know that no matter how upset people get, it won't translate to the ballot box.
Please read the excellent and surprisingly combative editorial by the Salt Lake Tribune, visit keeputahopen.com for information on the referendum process that is already under way to get the law repealed, and contact your state representatives and let them know how undemocratic this is. Just when I start to get the bug to be more states' rights oriented something like this happens and I remember that I live in Utah.
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