Legislation pending in Raleigh would give each of us a constitutional right to transparency from our elected leaders, both there and here in Bladen County.
We’re for the Sunshine Amendment, the name given to House Bill 1111.
If passed, all North Carolinians would have the state constitutional protection of access to public records and meetings, emails, financial reports and other official documents. Already, state law grants that access.
Putting it in the state constitution strengthens our right to know.
First up is for the bill to pass lawmakers. Next would be the state’s voters in November.
“Given the light the virus crisis has shed on the need for government accountability — and the need for the government to be up front with people — there couldn’t be a better time for the Sunshine Amendment to be put on the ballot,” said John Bussian, the legal counsel for the N.C. Press Association.
The Bladen Journal is a proud member of the NCPA. We’ve also enthusiastically supported the right to know by people who elect our politicians.
Many of them, in particular Gov. Roy Cooper and his administration during the coronavirus, have been questioned about what information is being shared and what is not. The Department of Health and Human Services changed its reporting after criticism, but still has inconsistencies when coupled with county health departments. The Department of Employment Security has been so thoroughly overwhelmed and inadequate in response that its leader was reassigned this week.
“Transparency and communication are what is paramount in any type of crisis that we have,” said Rick Gunn, the Alamance County Republican who is Senate majority whip.
Cooper and Cohen have held press conferences with screened and cherry-picked questions from the media calling in. Sen. Phil Berger, on the other hand, delighted in holding a recent press conference in which social distancing was practiced among those attending and everyone took turns with their questions.
It was an orchestrated punch from the powerful Republican to the state’s highest-ranking Democrat.
“It’s nice to be able to take questions and follow-ups from you all today,” Berger said. “Transparency and accessibility are necessary during times of crisis. Unfortunately, that’s been missing from the executive branch during this time.”
The law would mirror Florida’s landmark 1992 decision.
If voters get a chance at it, they will be able to ensure a requirement that any future North Carolina law aiming to reduce current levels of public access to government records and meetings can only be enacted upon a supermajority two-thirds vote of each chamber of the General Assembly.
Consider this: In Florida and California, similar measures had 80 percent of the popular vote.
Transparency and media coverage of government operations is as important as ever, from the Beltway to Raleigh to Elizabethtown. North Carolinians should be able to voice approval of their right to know through the proposed Sunshine Amendment.
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