By RICHARD MOORE
Over the past several decades, the open government movement has become a powerful force in Wisconsin. Every public official, both right and left, is committed to “letting the sun shine in.”
They don’t hesitate to announce it in press releases, either, especially during the annual celebration of open government known as Sunshine Week.
The truth is, though, the open government movement is in serious trouble. In fact, this is one of the darkest moments in “letting the sun shine in” that we have endured since the movement itself became a popular force in the 1970s, all those press releases notwithstanding.
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MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers wants to make it cheaper for the public to obtain government documents in some cases, after taking a series of hits for how he s handled records requests over the last two years.
For decades, government agencies have been allowed to charge those requesting documents for the cost of locating records if that cost exceeds $50. In the state budget he proposed last month, Evers recommended raising the threshold to $100, which would let more people obtain records without having to pay a fee.
The proposal hailed by open records advocates comes after the Democratic governor faced criticism for declining to release emails and getting into expensive legal fights with a Milwaukee TV station and a Republican lawmaker.