Iowa bill to rewrite Sunshine Law debated

Iowa's ombudsman said the changes made to a state bill concerning open meetings and open records move the state backward rather than forward in its level of transparency, The Des Moines Register reported. Among the controversies are amendments that would make job applications at all government agencies and all "draft" materials exemption from public records laws.

Greater secrecy in government records would result from some of the changes lawmakers have made to a bill dealing with open meetings and open records, according to the state ombudsman.

"Some of the amendments adopted last week pose a retreat from the amount of transparency and openness that currently exists in Iowa. It is just bad public policy," Ombudsman Bill Angrick wrote in a letter to key lawmakers.

If the bill is adopted, many hiring decisions would be more secret, critical information used in forming public policy would be shielded from public light, and there could be problems with the fees an agency charges for reviewing records before their release, Angrick said.

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