Latest news with #McKell
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SPJ gives dishonorable Black Hole Award to Utah Legislature for ‘egregious violations'
SALT LAKE CITY () — The Society of Professional Journalists has chosen the Utah State Legislature as the recipient of the dishonorable 2025 Black Hole Award, an award meant to bring attention to 'the most egregious violations of the public's right to know.' SPJ is one of the largest and longest-standing journalism organizations in the country, having been founded more than 100 years ago. The Black Hole Award, however, is just shy of 15 years old — and the Utah Legislature has already been a recipient twice. 'Utah cannot be 'the best run state' and the most secretive state at the same time; these goals are inherently exclusive of one another,' said Emma Penrod, president of the SPJ Utah Headliners Chapter. This dishonorable award comes after the legislature passed several laws pertaining to public records over the past several years. SPJ's Freedom of Information (FOI) Committee said the legislature 'earned this year's award for repeatedly undermining transparency' by amending public records law to 'block the release of public records – even after court orders mandated their disclosure.' 'After the State Records Committee ruled in favor of releasing several records that government agencies and elected officials sought to withhold, the Legislature turned around and made changes to the law to keep those records secret,' the SPJ press release reads. One sponsor of a recent public records bill, Sen. Mike McKell (R – Spanish Fork), calls the SPJ claims 'inaccurate' and lacking in merit, adding that he did not hear from the organization until after his bill was passed. SPJ points to multiple bills in particular over the past three years, including one passed this session that disbanded the State Records Committee, an independent board that managed record request appeals. The committee consisted of news representatives, governor-appointed citizens, and an archive representative. With the passing of S.B. 277 earlier this month, a governor-appointed director will now make the final call on whether the public has a right to see particular government records. 'Replacing that committee with a governor's appointee can only reduce accountability and undermine public confidence in government,' said Howard Goldberg, SPJ Freedom of Information committee member. McKell, the bill's sponsor, told ABC4 this law was 'modeled after successful approaches in other states' and 'is expected to be far more effective.' He said in 2023, the average time it took the committee to receive an appeal and issue a decision was 156 days. 'It is disappointing that the Society of Professional Journalists fails to recognize the need to address an inefficient and flawed system. Their claims are inaccurate and lack merit. Moreover, it is unfortunate that we are only hearing from SPJ now, after the fact,' McKell said. He continued to say lawmakers worked with the Utah Media Coalition to refine the bill and the organization did not oppose it. He said the local coalition expressed 'support for the legislative efforts to create a structure that is both efficient and fair.' ABC4 reached out to legislative leaders and Gov. Cox for comment and did not receive additional statements at the time of publication. SPJ pointed to another instance in 2022 when the legislature voted to block Garrity Statements — comments from public employees during an investigation — from the public eye. The organization said this came after the State Records Committee released Garrity Statements regarding officer-involved shootings upon the request of the Salt Lake Tribune. Last year, the legislature passed a law saying public officials' digital work calendars are not public records and therefore cannot be requested and publicized. SPJ said lawmakers passed the law shortly after courts supported the release of Attorney General Sean Reyes' calendar as journalists investigated his connection to Tim allard, the controversial CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. The recent national award was given after the local SPJ chapter in Utah gave its state-wide Black Hole Award to the legislature these past two years. However, it's not the legislature's first national Black Hole Award as Utah lawmakers were the first recipient in 2011. The 2011 Black Hole Award was given to the state legislature after 'extreme changes made to its public records law' under Gov. Gary Herbert. 'The legislature has clearly violated the public's right to know, and as a two-time recipient of this 'award,' it serves as a reminder to journalists to keep holding those in government accountable,' said Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, chair of the national SPJ FOI Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Access denied: How Utah lawmakers made it harder to get government records
The State Records Committee — the seven-member panel that resolves disputes over whether Utah government records are public or private — has a full agenda for its meeting next week. The 13 cases on its docket are about evenly split between reporters and members of the public seeking access to documents that various public agencies, including police departments, universities and cities, don't want to release. The March 20 meeting will be one the longstanding committee's last before a newly passed law replaces the seven members with an administrative law judge appointed by the governor. While the Utah Media Coalition, a consortium of news outlets that works to keep government records open, initially opposed the measure, it took a neutral position after sponsor Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, made a key change that kept the heart of the state's Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA, intact. Still, the Utah Legislature passed bills during its 45-day general session, which concluded last Friday, that will make it more difficult and expensive for Utahns to access government records. Lawmakers created more exceptions to the state's open meeting laws and eliminated public scrutiny of the process for selecting public university presidents. 'It was a tough session,' said Jeff Hunt, an attorney who represents the Utah Media Coalition. Here's a look at some of the bills on government transparency: SB277 replaces the volunteer seven-member State Records Committee with an administrative director who is an attorney to oversee appeals after public records requests are denied by government agencies. The governor will appoint the director to a four-year term and also have the power to remove the director for cause before the term ends. During the session, McKell said the current records committee process is flawed and broken. He said the panel's decisions are inconsistent because its members are not trained in the law. Courts upheld the committee's rulings 98% of the time, according to the media coalition. McKell also said the process is slow and the new law would make it faster. State and legislative audits found few cases in recent years were resolved within the 73 days the law requires and last year the average time was 156 days. The legislation initially sought to eliminate what's known as the public interest balancing test — in the law since it took effect in 1992 — which is described as the 'beating heart' of GRAMA. Without it, government entities could withhold records even if the public interest in disclosure was compelling and the interests favoring secrecy were nonexistent or minimal. McKell ultimately removed that piece. Hunt said the coalition is pleased that the bill was amended to safeguard access to public records and ensure that citizens who appeal records denials will have a neutral and independent records appeal officer to hear their cases. HB69 prevents someone who successfully gets access to records on appeal from recovering court costs, unless the government showed bad faith. That means they could incur an expense opposing the government even if it's decided they should have been given the records in the first place. 'The possibility that government would have to pay attorney fees for wrongfully denying a citizen access to public records was a powerful incentive for agencies to comply with the law. HB69 took that away. Now government can deny requests and citizens will have no recourse because going to court is too expensive,' Hunt said. Sen. Calvin Musselman, R-West Haven, the bill's Senate sponsor, said that requirement makes the process 'a two-way street so that it goes both ways' when it comes to recovering legal costs. Requiring bad faith to be shown is a 'reasonable provision,' he said during the legislative session. SB282 exempts the Utah Board of Higher Education's presidential search committee from public meetings requirements, restricts presidential applications from public view and requires that the board 'protect candidate confidentiality.' The committee would now recommend three finalists to the board, which would meet in a public meeting only when making a final hire. Utah law had allowed for the public release of the names of three to five finalists. Senate Majority Whip Chris Wilson, R-Logan, argued during the session that making the process confidential will attract more high-quality candidates. He said the current process forces the 'unnecessary disclosure' and 'discussion of their personal details.' Hunt said making the names public allows for further vetting of candidates and could turn up relevant information the search committee missed. 'There's value in allowing the public to have a role in this process,' he said during the session. 'I understand there's stakeholders on the search committee, but the most important stakeholder is the public.' SB169 makes it a crime to destroy documents that are subject to a pending public records request and requires more training of GRAMA records officers. Sponsor Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, earlier told the Deseret News he wants to clarify the process and make sure it's cleaner, more precise and more understandable. 'I'm trying to make sure that things are open and accessible,' he said, adding his proposed legislation makes the process 'more transparent and more responsible.' Hunt called it the only bright spot on government transparency to come out of the legislative session.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is the state auditor being pushed out of the Utah Capitol?
New Utah Auditor Tina Cannon said on the final day of the 2025 Legislature Friday that last-minute changes to a bill would push her office out of the state Capitol building, a move she's calling disrespectful. Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, the sponsor of SB143, told KSL NewsRadio's 'Dave and Dujanavic' he sees the auditor retaining some space in the historic building while relocating her staff to another building on Capitol Hill to make more room for lawmakers. Cannon, the state's first female auditor and one of five statewide elected officials along with the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and treasurer, said on the radio program that the legislation came as a surprise. 'It felt very last-minute and very rushed through the process. I can't speak to why that happened that way. I've only been here 60 days. I find it a little shocking, frustrating, disrespectful of the process in general,' she said. The bill was substituted on the House floor Thursday night to add language turning over control of Suite 260 in the Capitol to the Legislature once 'a substantially similar space on Capitol hill is assigned to the state auditor.' McKell, however, said it is important the auditor to 'have a presence in the Capitol building.' But he said the priority is to 'get as many elected officials in the Capitol building' as possible, noting that eight of the 29 state senators did not have offices there. Space allocations in the Capitol building as well as the House and Senate buildings are being reevaluated in light of a fourth building set for completion in the coming year, he said, pointing out that 99% of the attorney general's staff is already housed outside the Capitol. Cannon said the Capitol building was envisioned as 'an illustration' of the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Her major initiative since taking office in January was to open up part of the office to the public. 'It hadn't been opened. We found a doorknob and opened the door to the public,' said Cannon, who is responsible for auditing state and local governments. 'We invite the public in and we teach them how to search the records of the state of Utah that we have.' McKell said there's no reason that service couldn't be made accessible to the public from one of the other buildings on Capitol Hill. He said any suggestion the office space has to do with the auditor's transparency efforts is 'unfortunate.' 'We want that office to be successful,' he said. 'We want it to be accessible to the public.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is the state auditor being pushed out of the Utah Capitol?
New Utah Auditor Tina Cannon said on the final day of the 2025 Legislature Friday that last-minute changes to a bill would push her office out of the state Capitol building, a move she's calling disrespectful. Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, the sponsor of SB143, told KSL NewsRadio's 'Dave and Dujanavic' he sees the auditor retaining some space in the historic building while relocating her staff to another building on Capitol Hill to make more room for lawmakers. Cannon, the state's first female auditor and one of five statewide elected officials along with the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and treasurer, said on the radio program that the legislation came as a surprise. 'It felt very last-minute and very rushed through the process. I can't speak to why that happened that way. I've only been here 60 days. I find it a little shocking, frustrating, disrespectful of the process in general,' she said. The bill was substituted on the House floor Thursday night to add language turning over control of Suite 260 in the Capitol to the Legislature once 'a substantially similar space on Capitol hill is assigned to the state auditor.' McKell, however, said it is important the auditor to 'have a presence in the Capitol building.' But he said the priority is to 'get as many elected officials in the Capitol building' as possible, noting that eight of the 29 state senators did not have offices there. Space allocations in the Capitol building as well as the House and Senate buildings are being reevaluated in light of a fourth building set for completion in the coming year, he said, pointing out that 99% of the attorney general's staff is already housed outside the Capitol. Cannon said the Capitol building was envisioned as 'an illustration' of the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Her major initiative since taking office in January was to open up part of the office to the public. 'It hadn't been opened. We found a doorknob and opened the door to the public,' said Cannon, who is responsible for auditing state and local governments. 'We invite the public in and we teach them how to search the records of the state of Utah that we have.' McKell said there's no reason that service couldn't be made accessible to the public from one of the other buildings on Capitol Hill. He said any suggestion the office space has to do with the auditor's transparency efforts is 'unfortunate.' 'We want that office to be successful,' he said. 'We want it to be accessible to the public.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utah legislators take a stand against social media exploitation
On Wednesday night, the Utah Legislature passed a bill establishing a precedent between Big Tech and its users in Utah. HB418 grants users the right to own, control and manage their data, ultimately changing the business dynamic between users, advertisers and platform owners. It 'ensures that users can permanently delete their information,' the bill's floor sponsor, Majority Assistant Whip Sen. Michael Mckell, R-Spanish Fork, said during the Senate vote on Wednesday. 'This turns users into customers instead of products.' McKell noted that social media companies have prioritized monetizing personal data by designing their platforms to maximize ad revenue rather than enhance user experience. He argued that when users can move their data freely, platforms must compete for ad dollars and user trust, safety and satisfaction. Though the bill passed, Sen. John Johnson, R-North Ogden, opposed HB418, arguing against government-impose regulations, emphasizing a concern in harming business by limiting data access and potentially pushing social media companies away from Utah. 'Utah actually prides itself on being friendly to business, but now we want to put up barriers,' he said. Here's what I believe is going to happen with this, and that is that that all of a sudden, Facebook and others are going to decide just to firewall off Utah because they cannot meet this interoperability requirement that you're setting up for them. I think that's a barrier to business. I think it's bad business.' However, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, told the Deseret News that six states are closely watching what becomes of this bill. 'Utah is leading the nation with this legislation,' he said. 'As more people demand transparency and control over their data, we hope to see this movement grow nationwide.' 'This was a bipartisan effort because ensuring individuals — not corporations — have the final say over their personal information is not a partisan issue,' he added. 'I'm proud of the work we've done, and I appreciate the overwhelming support from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This is about protecting Utahns and ensuring that they — not big tech companies — decide how their data is used.' The legislature isn't the only government body advocating against the harm social media poses to users, particularly minors. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and the Attorney General's Office, led by Derek Brown, have remained vigilant in holding social media platforms like TikTok accountable. Last year, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection filed a complaint against the video-sharing platform, accusing them of knowingly allowing minors to be sexually exploited on their live stream feature. 'TikTok's design tactics encourage and allow it to profit from crime and the sexual exploitation of children,' the suit states. 'These deceptive and unconscionable practices violate Utah's Consumer Sales Practices Act and harm Utah's consumers.' In January, the United States Supreme Court cleared the path for a ban on TikTok, deciding that a policy mandating the app's ownership change does not violate free speech rights. The app, owned by ByteDance, a private Chinese company, was banned in the country for less than 24 hours on Jan. 18. In a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted by HarrisX, 805 Uthans were asked whether or not they support the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the congressional ban on TikTok. More supported it than opposed it. Republican voters (30%) were also slightly more likely than Democrat voters (24%) to strongly support the decision. The poll, conducted from Feb. 18 to 25, has a margin of error of +/—3.5 percentage points. Although the app is available for download again across all platforms in the U.S., the Trump administration continues to advocate for a deal that would put the platform under U.S. control, preventing foreign entities from accessing American user data.
