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Senate advances GRAMA changes to streamline appeals and permit providing compiled public publications
Summary
The Senate adopted an amendment and advanced SB 15 to allow agencies to provide compiled public publications in response to GRAMA requests, extend response time for notice-of-claim prediscovery to 30 days, and funnel appeals first to the State Records Committee to reduce forum shopping.
Senate Bill 15, presented by Senator Thomas, was debated on the floor and advanced after adoption of a negotiated amendment with media stakeholders.
Thomas summarized three main elements: permitting a government entity to provide a compiled public publication to a requester under GRAMA instead of raw records (to prevent duplicative searches), extending the response time to 30 days for GRAMA requests when a notice of claim has been filed (to align with judicial discovery timeframes), and streamlining appeals so all initial appeals go first to the State Records Committee to create a consistent body of GRAMA law and reduce forum shopping.
On the floor Thomas described the reform as the product of a GRAMA task force that met for seven months and recommended the appeal streamlining. "The task force believed this to be an important improvement to the system in order to avoid forum shopping by parties to grama litigation," he said.
Senator Hale asked a clarifying question about what it means for an entity to "provide access to the publication." Thomas explained agencies could provide on-site computer access or print portions of an online publication and must either give the requester a copy or show them where the information is located. The amendment clarifies that if a publication is identified as the source, the government must provide access to it or provide the location and retrieve the information if needed.
Thomas said he had worked with the media coalition and the local bar on language and would move the floor amendment; the Senate adopted it. The motion to read SB 15 for a third time passed on roll call (26 yes, 0 no, 3 absent), advancing the bill.
Supporters said the changes prevent redundant searches and foster consistent GRAMA decisions; at least one media group expressed opposition to the appeals-streamlining provision during task-force discussions, but the bill's sponsors argued the State Records Committee model will produce a consistent body of law and reduce litigation costs.
SB 15 advances to the next stage with the adopted amendment; senators signaled they may continue refining operational details in later stages.
