Fact Sheet & Highlights: An Act Promoting Transparency and Public Access in State Government - S.3200

An Act promoting transparency and public access in state government promotes freedom of information in the Executive and Legislative branches of government by providing new, greater levels of access to public records that are created by the Governor’s Office, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.

The transparency measures would take effect at the start of the new term in January 2027.

The details of the legislation are below.

Creating Greater Public Access to Legislative Records

Guarantees Open Legislative Records. Allows members of the public to access legislative records, including voting records; committee testimony; financial records including legislator and staff salaries, operating expenditures, and vendor expenditures; independent, third-party audits conducted pursuant to the Senate or House rules; ethics disclosures; certain contracts; employee handbooks; the Orders of the Day; and Senate and House Journals. Appropriates $250,000 each for Senate, House, and Joint accounts to cover costs related to compliance, including technology, records management systems, and personnel.

Creates Process for Requests and Independent Court Review. Establishes a process that allows individuals to request records from either the Senate or House of Representatives via designated records access officers (RAOs), who act as the origination point for all requests. RAOs would be responsible for obtaining and disseminating the requested records from their respective branch to the requestor within 10 days. In cases in which a request is denied, the requestor would be allowed to appeal the decision to the Superior Court, which would rule on whether the RAO’s decision was in error.