Representative
Todd Smola (R-Warren), the Ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means
Committee, spoke with WWLP-TV State House Correspondent Tiffany Chan yesterday
about the concerns that his local town clerks have expressed to him about the
costs associated with implementing proposed reforms to the state’s public
records law. The report is posted below,
along with the news segment that aired last night.
State lawmakers could revisit the
decades-old public records law when they return from August recess. Municipal
leaders fear a new law will create more work for city and town clerks.
“Just about every one of my town clerks
has reached out to me with concerns,” said State Representative Todd Smola
(R-Warren).
House lawmakers want to overhaul the state’s
public records law to improve government transparency. The proposal would
require city and town clerks to fulfill public records requests within fifteen
days. Costly fines are attached if they don’t comply. Some state lawmakers
worry a new law will drain resources from smaller communities.
“Particularly in western Massachusetts,
when you look at municipalities that only have a few hundred or a few thousand
people there, they don’t have a nine to five operation Monday through Friday,”
added Rep. Smola.
Public records legislation was expected to
come up for a vote in the House last month, but lawmakers put it off after
cities and towns expressed major concerns. One state lawmaker believes
updating the public records law is a good idea as long as there’s a financial
backing.
“This is going to cost money. You know,
the staff and the various clerks’ offices are going to have to do more and
obviously that requires money. So, if we do in fact move forward on this, we
need to make sure that it’s funded,” said Westfield Democrat John Velis.
State lawmakers have not updated the
public records law in almost forty years. A special legislative committee is
working with cities and towns to reach a compromise.
