Std-Ex: Don't Mess with GRAMA

The Std-Ex Editorial Board joins WCF in speaking out in strong opposition to Rep. Aagard's HB 122

Another strong editorial from the Standard-Examiner this morning, this time picking up where we left off with our own Weber County Forum Monday rant, concerning the evils of Rep. Douglas Aagard's proposed House Bill 122. The Std-Ex editorial board has consistently stood up over the years for preservation of the relatively robust "transparency in government" provisions which are presently embodied in Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) . And here they go again, repeating for the seemingly unpteenth time a message which ought not be repeatedly ignored by the morons on Capitol Hill. The Std-Ex once again issues our legislature yet another strong reminder this morning, together with a brief civics 101 lesson:

We remind legislators — and we are sure that we will have to keep reminding them each year — that the public’s right to know should take precedence over government’s desire for secrecy.

Within the editorial, the Std-Ex singles out and salutes the three Democratic Party legislators who voted to kill this liberty-unfriendly bill in committee. Being the curious type, we googled, and hereby present the complete roster of the same House committee, complete with handy party affiliation color coding:

House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee
Rep. Douglas C. Aagard, Chair (R)
Rep. Curtis Oda, Vice Chair (R)
Rep. Trisha S. Beck (D)
Rep. John Dougall (R)
Rep. Ben C. Ferry (R)
Rep. Richard A. Greenwood (R)
Rep. David Litvack (D)
Rep. Rebecca D. Lockhart (R)
Rep. Paul Ray (R)
Rep. Jennifer M. Seelig (R)
Rep. Larry B. Wiley (D)
Rep. Carl Wimmer (R)

As to the the three committee Democrats who voted to drive a stake through the heart of this highly citizen-unfriendly bill, we bestow a hearty Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat. As to our fellow Republicans who voted to send this bill on to the House floor, we have a question: When exactly did the Utah Republican Party, ostensibly the champion of limited and citizen-friendly government, so uniformly transform itself into the party of government secrecy?

Unfortunately, we never got the memo, and our feelings are hurt because we got left out of the information loop.

And for our many fellow Republican lumpencitizen readers all across the state of Utah...we have a further suggestion. Write down the names of these above-listed Utah GOP legislators... so's you don't forget them. They'll be running again for their House of Representatives seats in danged near the political blink of an eye, and we don't want to forget their names a little less than two years hence, when we'll have an opportunity to put their feet to the fire.

We hereby invite our readers' comments about this.