Senate passes bill blocking public access to many government records

SALT LAKE CITY — The Senate on Friday passed a fast-tracked bill by a 21-7 vote that would greatly restrict the public's access to government records.

By passing both chambers by two-thirds majorities, HB477 will become effective immediately with the governor's signature.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Gary Herbert said the governor will "take the time necessary to fully review the bill." He previously expressed "concerns" about how quickly the bill was considered after first being unveiled Wednesday.

Shortly before the full Senate passed HB477, which would make wide-ranging changes to the Government Records Access and Management Act, it advanced out of the Senate Rules Committee on a 5-2 vote following a failed attempt to send the bill to an interim committee for study.

While lawmakers said the changes were motivated by news media overwhelming staff with requests, Linda Petersen of the Utah Foundation for Open Government told the committee there's a way to deal with requests without "knifing GRAMA." And Jeff Hunt, an attorney representing the Utah Media Coalition, said the bill was "not in the public interest."

But Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, said the bill would merely inconvenience the media and called the anticipated impact of the bill "hyperbole."

On the Senate floor, HB477 sponsor Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said he would request an interim study so the media and public can suggest further revisions to GRAMA. He said despite calls to hold off on passing the bill, he felt it was the "right thing" to act now.

"This GRAMA has been abused and needs to be curtailed in such a way that it still protects the public but defends ourselves," Hillyard said.

Six of the seven Senate Democrats voted against the bill. They were joined by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who said he was troubled by the speed with which the bill was passed.

"I don't like this kind of thing at the end of the session," Buttars said. "I've seen it before, and I hate it."

HB477 passed the House 61-12 on Thursday after a brief debate in which legislators accused the media of abusing GRAMA to try to "dig up dirt" on lawmakers.

The bill, first publicly aired in a House committee Wednesday, would exempt certain forms of electronic communication from being considered public records, increase fees and response times for requests and erase intent language favoring disclosure. The state's legislative branch would no longer be subject to much of GRAMA.