After earning the notorious ‘Black Hole Award’ from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) in 2024 for its lack of transparency, the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) avoided the limelight in 2025.
The Utah State Legislature has received the dubious honor this year for repeatedly undermining transparency and violating the public’s right to know. The award is given annually to institutions that demonstrate a blatant disregard for open government and the public’s right to know during Sunshine Week.
The North Carolina General Assembly’s 2024 recognition followed a controversial change to the state’s public records law embedded in the state budget. The amendment granted legislators full discretion to destroy or withhold public records, a move that many groups criticized.
In a recent interview with the Carolina Journal, state Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, reacted to North Carolina’s legislature receiving the award in 2024, saying leaders are “really taking it to another level.”
“That’s impressive in a bad way,” Pricey said. “That’s embarrassing. I’m always proud when we engage in legislation and adopt policies that provide better transparency. We’ll continue to work for that.”
SEE ALSO: General Assembly earns ‘Black Hole Award’ for lack of transparency
A provision within the 2023 budget uses the term “custodian” to refer to any legislator, allowing them to decide whether a record qualifies as a public document. Moreover, they retain complete authority over whether to destroy or release their records, shielding many documents from public scrutiny.
Democrats have filed several bills this year to repeal the provisions. Harrison is pushing House Bill 322 to repeal one section of the budget provision, while Sen. Terence Everitt, D-Wake, filed a bill on Wednesday to repeal two sections that inhibited access to public records.
When it comes to public accessibility to meetings at the General Assembly, the NCGA took a minor step toward modernization in 2024 by switching from CDs to flash drives for committee hearing recordings. Citizens or journalists who wish to view past committee meetings must still contact the legislative library and request a copy of the footage. Once requested, the footage is copied to a flash drive and mailed or picked up in person, significantly limiting easy access to public records.
While committee meetings are live-streamed on YouTube, the footage disappears once the meeting concludes. Harrison called it inefficient and said the footage should be available for public viewing.
“That link is available for past committee meetings to the members, but we can’t share that link, which doesn’t make any sense to me,” Harrison explained. “There’s another hurdle to get it to somebody who’s interested in it.
SEE ALSO: Outdated? Flash drives and government transparency