For the second year in a row, state lawmakers are trying to exempt many of their records from public scrutiny.
A bill, sponsored by Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, is an attempt to undo changes made to the Missouri Sunshine Law that were implemented when voters passed the Clean Missouri amendment in 2018. Clean Missouri, which passed with 62% support, included language that now requires legislative records to be considered public records under Missouri’s Sunshine Law.
Emery said during a hearing Tuesday that his bill will “protect the correspondence” between legislators and their constituents from being subject to Sunshine requests. But the bill goes further than just correspondence. It would mean any record, such as emails or documents “related to” a constituent, would no longer be public record subject to Sunshine requests.
As defined in SB 613, “constituent” would mean any person who lives or pays property taxes in a lawmaker’s district. Lobbyists’ communications with lawmakers would still be considered public record, however — even those lobbyists who are a lawmaker’s constituent.
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