SB 299 and HB 322 are litmus tests. Passing them would signal that the people's representatives value trust over convenience, reversing a legacy of secrecy that’s left us lagging behind other states.
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.
So contact your state legislators this Sunshine Week and ask them to vote for the Government Transparency Act. North Carolinians deserve nothing less.
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.
Sunshine Week is designed to heighten awareness about the importance of open government and freedom of information and advocate for change where change is needed.
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. ...
