Looking past the state budget: Sunshine and livermush
06.06.11
While the all-important, $19.7 billion state budget labored its way to final passage in the House and Senate last week, the N.C. General Assembly still pushed a number of bills along the corridors of the Statehouse toward the June 9 crossover deadline. Some lost their earlier patina; others made light of the serious business at hand.
Take, for example, the Sunshine Act — the darling of those who believe in access to public records and public meetings (and admittedly, that includes the press). HB 87 was put forward early in the session, aimed at elevating government-in-the-sunshine by adding a constitutional amendment guaranteeing such public access. The bill saw some amendments of its own, but the concept survived until June 3, when the bill was scheduled for a committee vote. The June 3 version, however, turned out to be a gutted Sunshine Act, its original content replaced by an act to place a 30-day moratorium on “commercial communications” with accident victims and persons charged with certain motor vehicle violations.
Source: Mountain Xpress