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House approves open-government bill to create a statewide public-records website
Summary
House Bill 337 establishes a Utah public-records website and offers archival streaming and archiving services for local governments; the measure passed the House 70-0 after sponsors said it would help jurisdictions lacking resources to host records online.
The Utah House unanimously passed House Bill 3 37 on March 2, creating a statewide public-records website and offering archival streaming and posting services for audio/video of public meetings.
Representative Dougal, the bill sponsor, said the proposal responds to a GRAMA working-group recommendation to provide a repository that makes public records more convenient to access. "One of the things we're doing here for local governments... where they can place their documents," Dougal said, describing an archives-provided service for state and local governments.
Dougal emphasized that local jurisdictions that already publish records on their own websites would not be required to post duplicate content to the state site. The bill also contemplates an advisory committee to advise the archives on site development and allows the archives and the Division of Technology Services to provide streaming services for local government meetings that opt in.
Representative Handy, noting service on the GRAMA task force, expressed support while acknowledging counties' concerns about unintended costs. "I'm hopeful that we can work our way through those concerns," Handy said.
The House voted 70-0 in favor of House Bill 3 37; the measure will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
