Senator Kurita campaigns for stricter open meetings law

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Lawmakers say meetings must be open
Keeping work secret undermines government of people, they say
By HEATHER DONAHOE
The Leaf-Chronicle

Local legislators are applauding a new bill that would bolster the state's open meetings law if passed by the House and Senate.

The bill, brought to the legislature by the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, is aimed at further preventing state and local officials from meeting privately about public matters.
State Sen. Rosalind Kurita said Saturday the General Assembly does not maintain a high enough standard in terms of its public operating procedure.

"The legislature does not conduct all open meetings, and that is not right," said Kurita, who introduced a legislative ethics reform package last summer called "Everything Under the Sun." Among her ideas were televising and broadcasting Senate proceedings as well as ending the practice of secret meetings. "For legislators to participate in closed meetings is clearly wrong and violates the oath that says they are doing the business of the people," she said.

Kurita was emphatic a proposed $50 fine is insufficient for an elected official found in violation of the open meetings law. "Fifty dollars is nothing!" she said. "I think if you participate in a closed meeting, that action should be exposed to the public and any decision made in that meeting should be (voided). Fifty dollars is not a punishment proportionate to the action."


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