Vermont Considers Anonymity for HIgher Education Donations

The Vermont Senate cleared a bill to exempt certain donations to public higher education institutions from the state's public records law. Private donors who wish to remain anonymous could do so, although the amount and purpose of the donation would remain public. The identify of any donor who "transacts business" with the institution within three years of the donation would be public also.

The Vermont House will take up the bill this week.

For more information about the bill, click here.

New Englanders Favor Open Government

A recent poll commissioned by The New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC) and conducted by the University of New Hampshire's Survey Center shows the vast majority of New Englanders believe having open access to the workings of government is important to citizen and favor strengthening laws to protect access, such as making government agencies pay any legal bills necessary to open public records.  

Among the findings:

• One in four respondents strongly believe that public business in their community is done out of public view.
• The majority in the six-state region believe the news media seeks out public information useful to citizens. But one in four people polled disagreed, 14 percent strongly.
• Most citizens have not asked for a public record in the last 12 months and, of those who did, 87 percent said they got what they asked for. 
• A plurality of respondents said they were familiar with the workings of their state's open records laws.
• On the whole, New Englanders are satisfied with the response of state and local government to citizen requests for access, but they remain skeptical of government motives.

Get the full report here and more from NFOIC here. 

E-mails reveal divide over same-sex marriage bill

The AP used an FOI request to obtain e-mails addressed to Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, who pledged to veto a bill that would make Vermont the third state to allow same-sex marriages. The messages clearly indicate what an "emotional, divisive issue" this has become.

Some called him a homophobe. Some accused him of spreading hatred. Some thanked him, or applauded him for showing "backbone" in the face of pressure from gay rights advocates.

In the first two days after he pledged to veto a same-sex marriage bill, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas' mailbag and e-mail inbox runneth over, with about 1,500 letters and messages pouring in.

More here.

Vermont Legislative Council chief says making certain e-mails public could infringe on rights

Another open records debate over e-mails.

In Vermont, the legislature has a policy of deleting e-mails after 90 days. Therefore, when a teacher requested records of communication concerning a school funding bill, none were available.

The Legislative Council is also arguing that communication between constituents and individual lawmakers are not open records and that making them public could infringe upon the right of constituents to petition their government.

Curt Hier has been trying to find out if a teachers' union influenced lawmakers' votes on a school funding bill, but says his requests for public records from the Vermont Legislature have produced nothing but frustration.

Hier, a Fair Haven teacher who heads school reform group First Class Education-Vermont, said he has been trying to investigate the Vermont National Education Association's failed efforts to get lawmakers to repeal a 2007 law designed to put the brakes on rising school costs.

"I've gotten a whole lot of different stories," Hier said. "All the roadblocks I see lead me to believe there might very well be some embarrassing e-mails to be had."

More here.

Stiff Price Tag for E-Mails: $1700

A Vermont request comes with a steep price tag:

The Douglas administration is demanding $1,700 from the Vermont State Employees' Association if the union wants to look at public records related to the 400 state job cuts Gov. Jim Douglas has ordered.

"The time (and associated cost) are high because the request will require review of many thousands of e-mail messages to or from the named individuals" -- named in the union's request for access to the documents, wrote Harold Scwartz, administrative services director at the Department of Human Resources.

The union, which had sought e-mails and other internal documents related to the cuts dating back to last fall, called the charge exorbitant.

"The fact is, the public has a vested interest in knowing what government services and operations are impacted by the governor's position reduction’ initiativebut the public should not be required to pay to examine internal correspondence about those effects," VSEA Interim Director Michael Casey said in an e-mail.

Administration officials referred questions to Linda McIntire, deputy secretary of administration, whose agency includes the Department of Human Resources. She said the department and agency want to be responsive to the union's request, but found the costs in staff time to reply to the VSEA request would be high.

She pointed to a provision in Vermont law that allows a government agency targeted by a public records request to charge for the time it takes to respond to the request.

More here.