items tagged with open records

A six-year battle in the legislature to create an Iowa Public Information Board has renewed life because of a new floor manager for the bill with a “strong desire” to move it forward.

“I think the time’s come for this bill to move forward. Six years is long enough,” state Representative Walt Rogers (R-Cedar Falls) said February 22. “Iowans that I’ve talked to talk about transparency in their government. ... I think the common, everyday Iowan needs one place to go to find out some of their answers.”

The board would add teeth to the state’s open-records law.

Under Senate File 430, the state would create a seven-member board that would address people’s questions and problems about access to government records and meetings, and seek enforcement of the state’s open-records and public-meetings laws.