From the Jacksonville Daily News (3/18/11): It's called the Government Transparency Act. Suffice it to say, we like the sound of it already.
Yes, just in time for the annual week newspapers, the media and watchdog groups celebrate the idea of applying light into the dark corners of government, a group of North Carolina state senators filed SB344, otherwise known as the Government Transparency Act.
Excuse us for repeating ourselves. Government Transparency Act — it has a certain ring to it. Call it the ring of freedom.
The bill, filed by Republican Sens. Debbie Clary of Cleveland County, Tommy Tucker of Union County and Thom Goolsby of New Hanover County, came down the pike on Monday, the official start of Sunshine Week. The timing was impeccable, if not exactly coincidental.
As proposed, the bill would lift the cover from one of the murkier and most questioned areas of state public records law and open them to inspection and scrutiny — personnel records of public employees.