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Met Council seeks explicit public-data status for leaders and senior staff; committee advances bill
Summary
House File 1596 would make employment information (name, title) for Met Council members and certain senior staff public data. The committee adopted an author's amendment clarifying appointments and recommended the bill to the Committee on Elections, Finance and Government Operations.
The House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee on March 20 adopted an author’s amendment and advanced House File 1596, a bill to make employment information for Metropolitan Council members and certain senior staff public under Minnesota’s Government Data Practices Act.
Representative Acum, sponsor of the measure, told the committee the bill clarifies which Met Council members and leadership are considered public officials under statutes governing public data and said it would make basic employment information — name and job title — public for the Met Council chair, regional administrator, deputy regional administrator, 16 council members and executive directors of major divisions.
Judd Shetnan, government affairs director for the Met Council, said the request arose after an incident last year in which a former employee resigned and questions surfaced about whether that person’s employment information should be public. Shetnan said the council wants to align with how state agencies and local political subdivisions treat similar positions and to be transparent: “We’re here to ask the legislature to include us,” he said.
Privacy and open-government advocates supported the idea in testimony. Rich Neumeister, testifying during Sunshine Week, told the committee the change fits a history of bipartisan moves to make executive-level employment information public and urged further review of other public authorities that might warrant parity.
Representatives asked for an organizational chart to confirm which positions are included. Shetnan and the sponsor said the bill covers executive directors for Metro Transit, Environmental Services (wastewater), Metropolitan Transportation Services and related senior offices; the Met Council also noted inclusion of its chief of police and the office of equity in its request.
The committee adopted the author’s A1 amendment as a technical clarification of appointment language and recommended the bill be re-referred to the Committee on Elections, Finance and Government Operations.
