Shining a light on government brings together Texans of all kinds
What unites Texans of all political persuasions is the nonpartisan principle that our government must operate in the sunlight.
We have the right — and responsibility — to keep watch on how tax money is spent and how public officials make decisions. But it takes access to information to do it.
Our state transparency laws envision citizens having power over government. Every legislative session, updates and improvements are needed so that the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act function as intended.
The Texas Sunshine Coalition, representing 16 organizations with varying interests, works to protect the public's right to know. Supporters of the coalition testified this month before a key Texas House committee on enhancing public information laws. As we embark on national Sunshine Week (March 16-22) and call attention to open government, let's embrace these bipartisan sunshine proposals in the Texas Legislature:
Enforcement. When governments don't respond to information requestors or don't provide all the releasable records, common sense enforcement is necessary in the Public Information Act. Requestors deserve a solid system for filing complaints with the attorney general, and government officials found to have acted wrongly should face consequences such as additional open government training. Senate Bill 919 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and HB 4219 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, would achieve this.
If a requestor must file a lawsuit to force release of information, there should be a way to recover attorneys' fees if the requestor prevails. Texas appellate court decisions have made that difficult, allowing governments to hand over records at the last minute — often after costly litigation — and avoid paying legal fees. Those who successfully sue a government to obtain information need to recover attorneys' fees or, as Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, recently pointed out, 'that's not a fair fight.' Pending legislation would clarify legal fee provisions. SB 824 by Middleton, HB 2248 by Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, and SB 1291 by Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, address the issue.
User friendly Initiatives. Legislative proposals to help citizens and governments better use and carry out the Public Information Act include requiring that the attorney general's office operates a toll-free open government hotline; ensuring that the government official or outside legal counsel who responds to citizens' requests completes open government training; and allowing for mediation between a requestor and a government. These are contained in SB 1294 and SB 1295 by Johnson and SB 1130 by Middleton.
Disclosing basic information. Some governments store information in electronic spreadsheets but convert these documents to PDF images before producing them to the public. This conversion is unnecessary and makes it difficult to search and sort information. The attorney general's office has recommended producing documents in their original format, including spreadsheets. SB 50 by Zaffirini and HB 4218 by Capriglione would place this in law.
Ensuring that dates of birth are available in public records helps verify the identification of people with common names, whether in news reporting on crime or background checks conducted by lenders, landlords and employers. Dates of birth on applications by candidates for office help voters understand who is on the ballot. Birthdate disclosure is done in patchwork fashion across Texas following an Austin appellate court ruling a few years ago. HB 3719 by Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, and SB 1293 by Johnson would eliminate confusion and restore access to this basic information.
All these sunshine proposals center on preserving our rights, and the free flow of information goes hand in hand with the First Amendment liberty to freely speak out about government.
'It's about truth,' Middleton said, noting the Texas Public Information Act states that citizens grant powers to the government, not the other way around. 'The rights belong to the people.'
Kelley Shannon is the executive director of the nonprofit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. The Sunshine Coalition also includes the Texas Association of Broadcasters; Texas Press Association; Texas Public Policy Foundation; Institute for Justice; ACLU of Texas; Every Texan; Common Cause; Grassroots America; League of Women Voters of Texas; SMU School of Law First Amendment Clinic; Texas Appleseed; Texas Association of Licensed Investigators; Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom; Public Citizen; PublicData.com.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Shining a light on government brings Texans together | Opinion
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
2025 State of Economy event held in Longview discuss new laws to help East Texans
LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK)– LEDCO addresses tariffs to KETK News at the 2025 State of Economy. The event was held by the Longview Chamber of Commerce to hear about how new laws will help the local economy. The nonprofit organization, Texas 2036 spoke about how additional funds to public education, water infrastructure, and healthcare will boost the economy and set the state up for success. Future of NASA Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine in question due to proposed budget cuts Texas 2036 is a non partisan organization that uses long term data to secure Texas' future. Another push to help rural East Texans is expanding the reach for career readiness out of high school. 'To ensure and support more students becoming college and career ready. How do we ensure that they are ready for the workforce even when they're coming out of high school?' senior vice president of strategy and operations of Texas 2036, Justin Coppedge said. Coppedge said the state's economy boomed over the past few years and LEDCO president, Wayne Mansfield sees the growth in Longview. 'A lot of new construction and redevelopment occurring,' Mansfield said. Several businesses are currently expanding, still able to find employees, so I think the overall the economy is doing quite well coupled with the fact that the four school districts in our city have bond issues.' Mansfield does not believe tariffs will have a negative impact on businesses but may bring more companies. 'One positive aspect of it is that we've had a lot more inquiries from international companies looking for locations or potential locations to move out of the countries like Canada and Mexico in particular, or even Europe wanting to move their company here into Texas to get relief from the tariffs,' Mansfield said. Some people fear that foreign companies have ill intentions, but Mansfield said it gives East Texans more job opportunities. 'Generally, when companies from other countries, particularly Europe, locate in a community, they're there for the duration,' Mansfield said. 'They do not intend to leave any time. They want to come locate, become profitable, become parts of the community and stay for a long, long periods of time, ' Mansfield said.' Even though the legislative session is over, seeds have been planted at the state level, so years down the line Texans will reap the benefits. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
In a first for states, Texas might put MAHA warning labels on snack foods
A customer shops for produce at an H-E-B grocery store in Austin, Texas, in February. The Texas legislature recently passed a bill that would require warning labels on foods that contain certain artificial additives and dyes. (Photo by) In a first-of-its-kind effort, the Texas legislature has passed a bill to require warning labels on foods such as Mountain Dew and white bread that contain certain artificial additives and dyes. The measure, now awaiting action by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, would require a warning label prominently displayed on foods containing any of 44 artificial dyes and additives — a mandate that would apply to popular foods from Doritos and Skittles to Toaster Strudels and breads made with bleached flour. It marks the first time a state, rather than the federal government, has tried to put its own warning labels on food. While the bill passed the Texas House and Senate with bipartisan support, its sponsors are eagerly tying it to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement. State lawmakers embrace RFK Jr.'s health policies 'This is about the MAHA parents and the crunchy granola parents coming together to say we are sick and tired of being sick and tired,' state Rep. Lacey Hull, who partnered with fellow Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst to sponsor the bill, told legislators before the House voted on May 25. 'I have personally spoken to the White House, who said they are looking to us, to Texas, to get this done, to stand for our children and for our future,' Hull said. Abbott has not yet said whether he will sign the bill. It also includes other statewide health mandates, such as expanding physical activity requirements in public schools and setting new nutrition education requirements for high school and higher education students. But the food warning label has drawn the most attention. The label would read: 'WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom.' This is about the MAHA parents and the crunchy granola parents coming together to say we are sick and tired of being sick and tired. – Texas Republican state Rep. Lacey Hull Critics of food dyes and additives say they are most often found in low-nutrient, ultra-processed foods that promote unhealthy eating habits and contribute to chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes. Some artificial dyes that are permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in foods are not recommended by its counterparts in other Western countries. European Union regulators require warning labels on some foods containing synthetic dyes, saying they may have an adverse effect on children's activity and attention. In January, the FDA banned the artificial coloring Red No. 3, which is used in many foods and drinks in the U.S. but has been linked to cancer in animals. California became the first state to ban its use in 2023. That bill was sponsored by a Democrat and goes into effect in 2027. But in Texas, the snack industry is pushing back. A coalition of dozens of food industry and business groups — including Walmart, General Mills and Coca-Cola — wrote a letter in opposition to the Texas bill's warning label provision, saying it 'casts an incredibly wide net' and goes too far. 'Problematic' MAHA report minimizes success of lifesaving asthma medicines, doctors say 'Texans deserve honest labeling; but they also deserve public policy that's been studied, vetted, and evaluated for health considerations as well as economic impacts,' the organizations said in a letter circulated around the Texas legislature ahead of the House vote in May. Yet opposition from some of the country's largest food manufacturers may not be enough to halt the MAHA train. The legislation with the labeling requirement joins other Republican-sponsored bills in the Texas legislature and around the country that reflect Kennedy's MAHA agenda, from ending the addition of fluoride to public waters systems to loosening vaccine restrictions. In March, West Virginia became the first state to pass a sweeping ban on synthetic food dyes. At least two dozen other states considered similar food dye bans in this most recent legislative session, according to data from the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy group that pushes for removal of chemicals from food and consumer products. At the federal level, the FDA under Kennedy's direction has also asked the food industry to phase out certain synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, though some of the largest companies have said the timeline may not be feasible. Stateline reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be reached at avollers@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Judge sides with city of Austin in lawsuit involving former American-Statesman site
A judge this week ruled in favor of the city of Austin in a case involving the former American-Statesman site just south of downtown along Lady Bird Lake. The ruling denied a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by the Save Our Springs Alliance, an environmental watchdog group. The lawsuit alleged that the Austin City Council violated key provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act in 2022 when it approved a special type of zoning known as a planned unit development, or PUD, for the former Statesman site. The lawsuit sought to void the council's Dec. 2, 2022 vote to approve the PUD, based on the alleged open meetings violations. The Statesman moved several years ago from the site at 305 S. Congress Ave. to a new location near the airport. In arguing their case before District Judge Jan Soifer on May 15, Save Our Springs attorneys Bobby Levinski and Bill Bunch contended that the council granted the PUD zoning in violation of two key mandates of the Texas Open Meetings Act: proper public notice, and a reasonable opportunity for the public to speak before the vote was taken. Levinski said today that the Save Our Springs Alliance might appeal the ruling. "Given the importance of this case for governmental transparency and proper enforcement of the Texas Open Meetings Act, we'll be evaluating our options for appeal," Levinski said. "This case ultimately impacts the ability of residents to weigh in on important matters that affect their community, including the relocation of the Hike and Bike Trail and removal of the natural, tree-lined aesthetic of the Lady Bird Lake shoreline. Every case has its challenges, and we may need to work on it a little longer to ultimately prevail." More: Lawsuit seeks to halt planned redevelopment of former Statesman site on Lady Bird Lake Casey Dobson and Sara Wilder Clark represented the landowner, the Cox family of Atlanta, along with Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group. The Cox family hired Endeavor several years ago to create plans to redevelop the prime waterfront site. The site formerly housed the newspaper offices and printing plant. Cox sold the Statesman but retained ownership of the 18.9-acre site, a property many developers had long coveted and said was ripe for new development. Dobson did not immediately respond to an email for comment about the ruling and what it means for future plans to transform the property into a mixed-use project with high-rise buildings and other uses, which could include housing, office and retail development. Richard Suttle Jr., an Austin attorney and the spokesperson for the planned redevelopment, said he hasn't seen a final judgment yet in the case, so couldn't comment on what it might mean for the future planned redevelopment. Dan Richards represented the city in the lawsuit. Richards said Soifer's ruling, signed Monday, means "the trial court case is basically over." At last month's hearing, Richards told Soifer that voiding the PUD could jeopardize the developer's ability, in the current economic climate, to secure a new amendment offering the same level of community benefits — such as 6.5 acres of green space — at the site. At the same hearing, Dobson and Wilder Clark said the PUD zoning change was properly noticed, and the public was given sufficient opportunity to speak at nine different meetings. However, Levinski said that, while the PUD was listed on the council agenda as a zoning item, that posting was misleading because it failed to provide "full disclosure of the subjects to be discussed." The proposed PUD ordinance encompassed "numerous provisions that extend well beyond traditional zoning regulations," Levinski told Soifer. Those included "sweeping changes" to environmental protections and other city land-use codes, including a failure to disclose height limits, setbacks and the elimination of two restrictive covenants. "There are so many different parts of this (PUD) ordinance that are not zoning, yet it was sold to public as a rezoning," Levinski said. The zoning changes included modifications to the Lady Bird Lake shoreline; the relocation of the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail inland away from the lake; the removal of more than 90 mature trees; code waivers; and "amendments to almost every chapter of Austin's land development code," Levinski told Soifer. In arguing their case before Soifer, Leviniski and Bunch said that the Texas Open Meetings Act requires a public notice identifying these major changes to city standards and a public 'right to speak' on them before council granted the approvals. The Cox owners and Endeavor have the right to build high-rises — up to 725 feet tall — within 140 feet of Lady Bird Lake. The development would be "forever exempt from a plethora of water quality, parkland and lakeshore rules and regulations," according to the Save Our Springs Alliance. "The key here is the Statesman PUD went beyond zoning," Levinski said. "This didn't give sufficient notice to the public to say what is occurring with this zoning." Among other issues, he said the PUD included "non-zoning provisions, including items the council doesn't have authority over." There was a way the city could have described with greater detail what was occurring with the zoning case, "but they chose not to, and it's deceptive that they chose not to," Levinski said. The level of specificity "gets enhanced" when the issue involves matters of "significant public interest," Levinski said. "It's not enough to rely on the assumption that the general public may have knowledge of the subject matter." Dobson and Wilder Clark, however, told Soifer that the public notices complied with the Texas Open Meetings Act. The notices properly and adequately disclosed the subject of the PUD at various meetings on the council's printed public agenda, Dobson and Wilder Clark said. Moreover, all the details that Save Our Springs claims were lacking from the notice were available at "the click of a link" in backup materials on the council's online agenda, Wilder Clark said. "Not only did (the public) get to talk in meetings, but they got to submit written testimony," Wilder Clark said. She also noted that the council postponed meetings on the case. Showing slides of newspaper articles, Dobson said the proposed redevelopment of the Statesman site was front-page news. He said the case was "noticed out of the wazoo." "(Opponents) think this was done in the dark of night, with adequate notice to nobody," Dobson said. "In fact, the polar opposite happened." Dobson said no special notice was required, and opponents "didn't need it. They wrote letters, they spoke at length to (the city) Planning Commission and City Council. This did not take place under the shroud of secrecy," Dobson said. Countering the city's arguments, Bunch said the city "invented out of whole cloth" its position that it upheld the open meetings act, saying "there's no support for that in the entire body of open meetings cases." Early in the hearing, Dobson showed a photo of the current Statesman site "in all its glory," showing a low-slung building surrounded by a near vacant parking lot with lots of asphalt and concrete. Attorneys for the city and the developer stated that "virtually no one" opposes the proposed development, which may include condominiums, apartments, a hotel, office space and retail areas. Noting the site's popularity as a prime location for viewing the famed bat colony under the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, they emphasized the new development will enhance the bat viewing area. Additionally, they said the project has the support of bat conservation groups. Last year, the Save Our Springs Alliance won a lawsuit contesting the city's creation of a special financing district, a so-called tax increment reinvestment zone, to fund infrastructure improvements within the proposed Statesman redevelopment project. A judge ruled that financing method unlawful. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Judge rules for city in case involving former Statesman site
