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Transparency bill to undo 2024 legislative exemptions is postponed after divided committee vote
Summary
Rep. Garcia Sanders proposed a bill to repeal last year's legislative exemptions to Colorado open‑meetings rules and to lower some CORA fees; the committee heard broad testimony from transparency advocates and local governments and ultimately did not advance the bill, postponing it indefinitely after a roll‑call vote.
Representative Garcia Sanders introduced House Bill 12‑42 to restore and strengthen public access to government deliberations and public records, saying the measure would reverse provisions enacted in 2024 that exempted some legislative meetings from open‑meetings requirements and would lower barriers to public records.
“Transparency is not a privilege. It is a right,” Representative Garcia Sanders said in opening remarks, framing the bill as a correction to actions that, she and supporters said, allowed policy negotiation to happen outside public view. The sponsor asked the committee to repeal the legislature’s exemptions from the state’s open meetings law and to limit fees that make CORA requests costly to ordinary citizens.
Supporters — which included the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, the League of Women Voters, journalists and citizen‑journalists — said the bill would restore trust by capping research and retrieval fees, expanding initial free search time and preventing government use of copyright or other loopholes to withhold records. “When government is less than transparent about what it is doing, the public is left to speculate based on incomplete or inaccurate information,” Linda Hutchinson of the League of Women Voters testified.
Local governments, counties and some legal counsel raised practical concerns about required attorney review times, staffing burdens and the cost of providing several hours free for many requests. A representative of the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department testified that the agency has already added staff to meet increasing CORA demand and noted that attorney review is often necessary to avoid liability; the witness warned that limiting attorney fees could interfere with contractual rights.
Committee debate included several proposed technical amendments; two were adopted, changing a required‑to‑permissive clause and extending a timing computation from three to five days. After robust testimony and discussion, the committee considered a motion to move the bill to the Committee on Appropriations. That motion failed on a roll‑call vote, and the bill was then postponed indefinitely.
Ending: The hearing highlighted contrasting priorities: transparency advocates pressed for stronger statutory enforcement and fee limits to make records affordable for the public; local entities warned that the statutory changes could shift costs to local governments or undermine legally prudent review. Sponsors said they will refine the bill and explore other ways to build statutory accountability for compliance with open‑government rules.
