SPJ Oregon lobbies for transparency in Salem

We’re hard at work in Salem pushing for four bills that would improve government transparency and public access to information. We’re also keeping an eye out for bills that could negatively impact transparency and disclosure. Our legislative priorities are:

Public health data: SB 719
This bill would fix Oregon’s overly broad public records exemption for public health information, which the Oregon Health Authority has cited numerous times in the past year to avoid disclosing non-identifying, statistical data about the COVID-19 pandemic - including, at one point, the raw numbers underlying a graph OHA published. While preserving individual privacy, this bill clarifies that statistical information about a public health response is not exempt from disclosure under Oregon law.

Public records fee reform: HB 2485
High fee estimates too often serve as a barrier to disclosure of records, and offer agencies no incentive to modernize their records management systems or work with requestors. This would require state agencies - and eventually most local government entities - to waive 50% of fees for public records requests made in the public interest, and 100% of fees for narrowly-tailored requests.

Wildfire access: HB 2486
Journalists in many other states, including California, can go behind fire lines to bring their communities urgent, needed coverage of wildfires and other natural disasters. This bill would allow Oregon media similar access.

Law enforcement disciplinary actions: HB 2487
At a time when the public is demanding greater transparency and accountability from law enforcement, this bill would make law enforcement disciplinary actions subject to public disclosure under Oregon’s public records law.

If you have questions about these bills or would like to help support our efforts, please contact Freedom of Information committee chair Rachel Alexander at rachelwalexander@gmail.com.