Hoping to undo what he says are court-created loopholes in public right-to-know requirements, state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, filed two pieces of legislation Tuesday that aim to give taxpayers better access to information.
Senate Bill 407 would require that businesses prove information is proprietary or a trade secret before it would be exempt from release to the public; Senate Bill 408 would make it easier to track government money being spent by private entities...
The measures have support from open government organizations.
“Understanding how taxpayer money is spent is essential in our democracy,” said Laura Prather, an attorney who is co-chairwoman of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas’ legislative committee.Excerpted from American-Statesman. To read the full article, please click here.