We Should Oppose Bill to Gut the Open Meetings Law

[Dan Meek]

HB 3514 is up for hearing in House Rules Committee on Monday.  It would gut the Open Meetings law by severely limiting the types of meetings to which it applies.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/13reg/measpdf/hb3500.dir/hb3513.intro.pdf

Here is the crucial provision:

SECTION 1. ORS 192.630 is amended to read:

        (1) All meetings of the governing body of a public body shall be open to the public and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as otherwise provided by ORS 192.610 to 192.690.

(2) (a) A quorum of a governing body may not meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any budget, fiscal or policy matter except as otherwise provided by ORS 192.610 to 192.690.

    (b) For purposes of this subsection, “deciding on or deliberating toward a decision” means the organized acts of a quorum of a governing body to discuss, work toward or achieve a final decision on a budget, fiscal or policy matter, but does not include:

                (A) Communication that is wholly unrelated to the conduct of the public’s business;

                (B) Fact gathering activities; or

        (C) On-site inspections of property or facilities at a location other than the regularly scheduled meeting room of the governing body.

So it drastically limits the topics of discussion that demand open meetings and exempts "fact gathering activities," even if a quorum of the public body is together on the fact-finding mission.  It also allows all members of the public body, together, to visit "a location other than the regularly scheduled meeting room of the governing body" and there discuss anything they want, not limited to facts.

And what is a "policy matter"?  Today, meetings must be open if the body discusses "any matter except as provided by ORS 162.610 to 192.690," which are very limited exceptions for medical information and nuclear power plant security plans.

This bill would destroy the Open Meetings Law.

Oregon already ranks at the bottom of states in transparency.  The State Integrity Investigation gave Oregon an F in "Public Access to Information."  See http://www.stateintegrity.org/oregon_survey_public_access_to_information.

There is a group called Open Oregon that supposedly watchdogs this sort of thing.  But their website has not been updated for over 2 years.  http://www.open-oregon.com.

Dan Meek

503-293-9021

d...@meek.net

866-926-9646 fax

[Dan Meek]

The bill is HB 3513.

Dan Meek

503-293-9021

d...@meek.net

866-926-9646 fax