11-020 report ocr 1 |
Previous | 1 of 8 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
|
INTERIM STUDY REPORT Government Modernization Committee Rep. Jason Murphey, Chairman Oklahoma House of Representatives Interim Study 11-020, Rep. Jason Murphey November 10, 2011 Enhancing transparency of the legislative process Joey Senat Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University ∙ Oklahoma is one of three states that has exempted itself from the Open Records Act. ∙ Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas and Texas include their state legislatures in the open records law. ∙ Minnesota has a separate statute to cover the legislature. This is an option for Oklahoma where those things that are truly of a confidential nature would be exempted. ∙ Don’t exempt communications between legislators or between legislators and lobbyists. ∙ The reasoning of elected officials is just as important as their final vote. Peter Rudy Oklahoma Watchdog ∙ Changes to the conference committee process implemented last session have been a big step to increasing transparency. ∙ Room 432a is the least transparent room in the House. ∙ Budget decisions are made by a few people behind closed doors. ∙ Critical piece of transparency is to give ample notice of meetings. ∙ Every bill should be heard and voted on in committee. ∙ Change the discharge petition requirement to 51 signatures so bills that have wide support can bypass the committee process. ∙ Another issue is the Governor’s veto. At least four states have “veto sessions” after Sine Die to take care of any vetoes by the Governor. Senator Karen Peterson State of Delaware ∙ Passed a bill last year to include the legislature in her state’s open records law and they have not experienced any catastrophic results. ∙ All budget deliberations are open to the public. ∙ The state’s budget was ready two weeks ahead of schedule this year. ∙ Everyone can see what is in the budget before it’s voted on. ∙ Excluded party caucus meetings, emails between legislators and staff, ethics committee hearings and emails between constituents and legislators. ∙ If a charge is made that there is a violation, the state’s attorney general would be the enforcer. We have to rely on the press to bring this to light to force a release of documents. ∙ The cost to the state has been $64,000 to handle the open records requests. Attached Documents: Meeting Notice Peter Rudy prepared comments http://www.okhouse.gov/Documents/InterimStudies/2011/11-020%20presentation%20a.pdf Sign in sheet http://www.okhouse.gov/Documents/InterimStudies/2011/11- 020%20signin.pdf
Object Description
Description
Title | 11-020 report ocr 1 |
Full text | INTERIM STUDY REPORT Government Modernization Committee Rep. Jason Murphey, Chairman Oklahoma House of Representatives Interim Study 11-020, Rep. Jason Murphey November 10, 2011 Enhancing transparency of the legislative process Joey Senat Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University ∙ Oklahoma is one of three states that has exempted itself from the Open Records Act. ∙ Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas and Texas include their state legislatures in the open records law. ∙ Minnesota has a separate statute to cover the legislature. This is an option for Oklahoma where those things that are truly of a confidential nature would be exempted. ∙ Don’t exempt communications between legislators or between legislators and lobbyists. ∙ The reasoning of elected officials is just as important as their final vote. Peter Rudy Oklahoma Watchdog ∙ Changes to the conference committee process implemented last session have been a big step to increasing transparency. ∙ Room 432a is the least transparent room in the House. ∙ Budget decisions are made by a few people behind closed doors. ∙ Critical piece of transparency is to give ample notice of meetings. ∙ Every bill should be heard and voted on in committee. ∙ Change the discharge petition requirement to 51 signatures so bills that have wide support can bypass the committee process. ∙ Another issue is the Governor’s veto. At least four states have “veto sessions” after Sine Die to take care of any vetoes by the Governor. Senator Karen Peterson State of Delaware ∙ Passed a bill last year to include the legislature in her state’s open records law and they have not experienced any catastrophic results. ∙ All budget deliberations are open to the public. ∙ The state’s budget was ready two weeks ahead of schedule this year. ∙ Everyone can see what is in the budget before it’s voted on. ∙ Excluded party caucus meetings, emails between legislators and staff, ethics committee hearings and emails between constituents and legislators. ∙ If a charge is made that there is a violation, the state’s attorney general would be the enforcer. We have to rely on the press to bring this to light to force a release of documents. ∙ The cost to the state has been $64,000 to handle the open records requests. Attached Documents: Meeting Notice Peter Rudy prepared comments http://www.okhouse.gov/Documents/InterimStudies/2011/11-020%20presentation%20a.pdf Sign in sheet http://www.okhouse.gov/Documents/InterimStudies/2011/11- 020%20signin.pdf |
Date created | 2012-03-05 |
Date modified | 2012-03-05 |