NORMAN — The skies have been gray for a few days, but that doesn’t stop this week’s Sunshine Week designation in Oklahoma and throughout the country. It gives the public and the press reason to celebrate transparency in government and renew the fight against secrecy.
One change at the state level this year is that legislative conference committees, which previously met secretly or not at all, must now hold open meetings and public votes. Bills that emerge from conference committees in the final days of session also must be available online for at least 24 hours before coming to the floor for a vote.
Gov. Mary Fallin pledged more openness in government. Her chief legal counsel handles open records and open meetings questions, but there is no statewide advocate pushing openness at city, school district and county levels.
It’s left to the public, an FOI watchdog group and the working press to push the issue. District attorneys have been reluctant to prosecute open meetings and open records violations, as they tend to believe the matters are not that important.
Attempts to force the Oklahoma legislature itself to comply with the Open Meetings act have been sidetracked. The Oklahoma Press Association spends considerable member and staff time and money trying to defeat proposed legislation that limits public access to information or attendance at public meetings.
The new House rules should make access better, but the legislature could change that if it becomes problematic for them to operate more in the open.
