North Carolina Democrats are pushing to restore public access to General Assembly records, challenging Republican-led restrictions from 2023 that limited transparency in state government.
Senator Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, is refiling the Government Transparency Act this week in the North Carolina General Assembly, coinciding with Sunshine Week, a national initiative that promotes open government and accountability.
The REINS Act creates a formal process for individuals to challenge proposed rules. It also requires legislative approval for any permanent regulation that's expected to have an economic impact of $1 million or more within a 12-month period.
In addition to public comment periods, HB 178 includes a transparency component for legislative requests. Under the proposed law, documents from state agencies and individual legislators requesting budget provisions or funding will become public records once the budget is enacted, allowing citizens to see how certain budgetary decisions were made.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated since it was posted to include a link to the image of a Russian tank posted on Ebay being flagged as “misinformation” by the Poynter Institute. Battlefield wedding ceremonies; a Ukrainian farmer stealing a Russian tank with his tractor; Ukrainian mothers and children fleeing to find a line of...
During Sunshine Week — seven days highlighting the public’s right to know about what happens behind the government’s closed doors — much of North Carolina’s health care system remains in the shade. State Treasurer Dale Folwell wants to rescue the State Health Plan with price transparency. The plan is due to go broke in three...
If a Florida parent wants to see the personnel file for their child’s public school teacher, the school would hand it over. In North Carolina, that parent probably would be turned away, said media lawyer John Bussian, who represents Carolina Journal and other media outlets. That’s one reason North Carolinians should care about Sunshine Week...
Four Carolina Journal staff members in February sent public records requests to all 100 county governments in North Carolina. Counties were asked to provide the number of full-time equivalent positions authorized over the three most recent fiscal years, as well as the operating budget authorized by the respective county commissioners for the three most recent fiscal years. ...
It’s nothing new. Reporters, government accountability activists, and residents often grapple with government institutions, which can be slow to respond to and or even hostile toward any attempt to shine light on their operations. Some states have taken steps toward transparency, yet others have seemingly doubled down on restrict people’s right to know. As part...
“Chapel Hill professors question group’s public records requests.” “Governor and NC media settle dispute over McCrory’s records.” “Public records lawsuit filed against state Rep. Beverly Boswell.” All real headlines. All spanning North Carolina’s news cycles over the past decade. All present important questions about transparency and access to government records, which are, by statute, open...
House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, D-Wake, says Gov. Roy Cooper was within his constitutional authority to create a $57.8 million side deal to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. But he thinks the relevant public records should be released to show precisely how it came about. Jackson, flanked by state Reps. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, and Bobbie Richardson,...
