An amendment inserted in a bill changing Missouri's Sunshine Law could be used by legislators to avoid responding to requests when the legislature is not in session, one of its supporters admits.
The bill, initially aimed at shielding the email addresses and telephone numbers of subscribers to government newsletters, was passed by an overwhelming 149-1 by the House and is now with the Senate.
An amendment added prior to its passage states that agencies are exempt from the three day deadline to respond if they give 72 hours notice they will be shuttered for a prolonged period of time.
This was in response to concerns raised about responding in time during an emergency, including the pandemic.
The provision would also exempt lawmakers from abiding by the deadline if their offices are closed, Rep. Tony Lovasco (R-O'Fallon) told AP News.
He added that lawmakers would be concerned about criticism if they used the bill to regularly delay responding to public-record requests.
But the insertion of the provision - and a representative admitting how it might be used by lawmakers - is another concerning development in connection with the Sunshine Law, according to one law professor.
"It is obviously under pressure," said Richard Rueben, of the University of Missouri.
Recent court cases have thrown up various issues, including claims of exorbitant costs connected to requests for information.
"It is helpful to understand in light of the larger fight that is under way over whether or not there is democratic rule in the U.S., or democratic rule in the state of Missouri," said Rueben. "This is about transparency as a fundamental element of democratic government."
"People have to be able to engage in democracy, be informed on the issues, and transparency of governnment is essential to make that work," he added.
"Look at it from that lens, this is an effort to make government less democratic by making it less accountable."
He agreed legislators are essentially part-time employees, but added that they have staff to handle requests.
The vote reveals that it does appear to be "one thing Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on," Ruben added.
“The idea was if a public body is shut down due to an emergency that there is an understanding about people not being able to easily access and respond in a hurry to a request," Missouri Press Association attorney Jean Maneke told AP.
“It's a significant difference between saying this is an emergency and saying we're just not going to be responding to requests over a certain period of time.”
Rueben added that using the emergency is a "disingenuous argument that undermines the credibility of the legislators."