Group Seeks Open Review Of Legislative Records

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A good-government group on Wednesday asked state Assembly Speaker John Perez to ensure that a task force he appointed to study open-records issues holds its meetings in public and is transparent about its findings.

Common Cause also recommended that lawmakers scrap the 1970s-era Legislative Open Records Act, which officials in the Legislature have used to keep many documents secret.

A policy advocate for Common Cause, Philip Ung, asked the Los Angeles Democrat to make transparency and public disclosure a priority for the task force, which has yet to name any members besides its chairwoman, Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. The letter sent Wednesday to Perez and Skinner was provided to The Associated Press.

Perez announced the task force this summer while he was under fire for the Assembly's refusal to release lawmakers' office spending records during a feud with another Democratic lawmaker.

Common Cause called on Perez and Skinner to post online the biographies of all committee members and provide at least three days' public notice before it holds meetings, as other state and local government bodies that follow the California Public Records Act are required to do. Lawmakers are subject to a separate law, known as LORA, that they approved in 1978 and that has been used far more restrictively.

"The LORA continues to be a hurdle for good government groups, members of the media and everyday Californians to gain access to common sense legislative documents," Ung wrote. He said the law contains unnecessary exemptions for legislative members, staff, committees and caucuses "with no policy rational(e) behind the need for such protection from public scrutiny."

The letter said the public deserves timely access to Assembly spending records and lawmakers' meeting schedules.

In announcing the committee, Perez said Democratic and Republican lawmakers had "expressed concerns to me about making Assembly expenditures more accessible."

He asked Skinner, the same lawmaker in charge of blocking the release of budget documents, to investigate whether the Legislative Open Records Act needs to be updated. She was to report back in January, months after the close of this year's legislative session.

The controversy stems from a feud between Perez and Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada-Flintridge, who claimed his office budget was slashed as retaliation for voting against the state budget. Portantino asked the Assembly Rules Committee to release all Assembly members' expenditures, but was refused.

Perez later released some documents, but they offered an incomplete picture of lawmakers' staff and office spending.

In the past, the 80-member Assembly and 40-member Senate also have rejected repeated requests from the AP and San Jose Mercury to release calendars that might show lawmakers' meetings with lobbyists and special interest groups. All statewide elected officials, including the governor, have released copies of their calendars when requested.

The Sacramento Bee and Los Angeles Times have filed a lawsuit seeking the complete and current office budgets of Assembly members.

Ung said Common Cause spoke with the rules committee's chief administrator, Jon Waldie, in hopes of getting an update on the task force.

"They had said they don't know the schedule, they don't know who the members will be, they haven't even had a chance to meet with the chair," Ung said. "It sounds like to us, the speaker announced it, they dealt with the end of session, and then everybody just went home. But we're keeping the pressure on because we really want to see something substantial come out of this process."

A spokeswoman for Perez, Robin Swanson, said the speaker appreciates the input from Common Cause and that the task force "will take all of these recommendations under consideration."

Common Cause also recommended that the Legislature:

-- Create a permanent, independent commission on public records that would continually review issues on legislative, executive and judicial records disclosure.

-- Post online spending reports and audits within seven days, rather than only by request.

-- Create an easy-to-use records disclosure website where the public can find detailed "expenditure reports, audits, calendars, and/or LORA/Public Records Act forms," and receive instructions on how to request information. The salaries of Assembly members and staff, as well as lawmakers' expenditures, should be consolidated there.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)