This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
Amending Missouriās open records law to permit government agencies to withhold more information from the public ā and charge more for any records that are turned over ā is among Gov. Mike Parsonās priorities for the 2022 legislative session.
Among the changes, which were outlined in a presentation to Parsonās cabinet that was obtained by The Independent through an open records request, is a proposal to allow government agencies to charge fees for the time attorneys spend reviewing records requested by the public.
Such a change would reverse
a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling against Parsonās office that found attorney review time was not āresearch timeā under the Sunshine Law and thus could not be charged.
The presentation, which was prepared for a Nov. 10 meeting of Parsonās cabinet, included slides on the legislative goals of Parson, who was referred to as āG57.ā
The slide on proposed Sunshine Law changes dubbed the proposals as āGood Governmentā reforms and described the changes as ones that would ābenefit political subdivisions, the legislature and state government.ā
But transparency advocates say the changes would diminish the publicās ability to hold public institutions accountable.
āIf they succeed in accomplishing this wish list of changes, it will make it incredibly difficult and expensive for Missourians to get access to information about what their government is doing,ā said Dave Roland, director of litigation for the Freedom Center of Missouri, a libertarian nonprofit that advocates for government transparency.
Kelli Jones, spokeswoman for the governor, did not respond to a request for comment.
āImportant to himā
A handful of bills have already been filed for consideration during the 2022 legislative session that touch on various changes outlined in Parsonās cabinet presentation.
State Rep. Bruce DeGroot, R-Ellisville, once again filed legislation that
aims to shield constituentsā email addresses and telephone numbers from public disclosure if they were submitted for the sole purpose of receiving newsletters or other alerts.
The bill, which was passed by both the Senate and House last year,
was ultimately vetoed by Parson, in part, due to a subsequent court ruling related to the Sunshine Law and provisions related to the Office of Child Advocateās authority that were added later in the session.
This yearās bill includes many previously proposed provisions, but it also includes new measures that DeGroot said were proposed by Parsonās office over the summer.
āI really liked the House version last year,ā DeGroot said, āand then the governor came to me, and obviously, this was something that was important to him.ā
DeGroot said itās not his intent to have information hidden from the public. He hopes the bill will lead to a conversation on finding a āhappy mediumā between information being made accessible without overburdening government agencies.
āWe have to have good investigative reporting going on on government, and thatās healthy, in my opinion,ā DeGroot said.ā¦
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