On March 14, I introduced legislation that would expand the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to include the governor’s office and the Legislature.

People have a right to know what their government is doing, and that includes the governor and Legislature. This legislation would give citizens a better window into the activities of their elected leaders.

The bills would remove the current FOIA exemptions for the governor, lieutenant governor, and executive office employees and create a new part to the act, the Legislative Open Records Act, which would subject the Legislature to the disclosure provisions of FOIA.

I have always supported increased government transparency and I publicly supported the House version of this legislation last year. I look forward to once again working with my colleagues in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle to finally take this important step.

Senate Bills 246 and 247 have been referred to the Senate Committee on Government Operations.