House Lawmakers Vote To Overhaul Public Records Law

Framingham State Representative Tom Sannicandro joined lawmakers this month in approving a long-awaited public records reform bill that would update the existing law for the first time in 40 years, improving access to state and municipal documents, and providing new enforcement mechanisms for government compliance.

While current law grants public access to a variety of government documents and records, weak fulfillment of records requests has ignited debate over the extent of transparency in Massachusetts’ state and municipal government.

Citing prohibitively expensive procurement fees, lengthy administrative response times, and lack of online availability, the Center for Public Integrity gave Massachusetts an “F” for public access to information, ranking the state 40th nationwide in a report released earlier this month.

“The responsibility of the law is to adapt to a changing world, to reflect society’s strides,” said Rep. Sannicandro, a Democrat from Ashland, who represents one-third of Framingham’s precincts.

“This legislation marks a meaningful step in public records reform, and sends a strong message to our communities that Massachusetts is committed to greater governmental transparency,” said Sannicandro.

The House Committee on Ways and Means released a redraft of a bill initially filed by Rep. Peter Kocot (D-Northampton) Wednesday, that would require government agencies and municipalities to designate a records access officer to better track and satisfy requests, reduce fees for copies of public documents, and penalize noncompliant agencies and municipalities.

Under the House’s proposal, records access officers would be required to transmit electronic records in digital form when available, and state agencies would be required to regularly and proactively post certain documents online.

The House vote coincided with Secretary of State William Galvin’s deadline to submit the necessary 64,750 signatures required for his ballot imitative, which seeks to strengthen enforcement of public records law. Though the bill now moves to the Senate for consideration, it is unlikely the legislation will reach Governor Baker’s desk before the end of the legislature’s formal session on Wednesday. The bill will likely be taken up again in January.