A bipartisan bill designed to lower the cost of copying public records should be welcomed by all citizens who like to keep a watch on state and local government.
Senate Bill 45, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver, is designed to bring down the cost of public access to a more reasonable level.
The bill as introduced would limit the per-page copying fee to 10 cents or whatever the actual cost is. The current maximum is $1.25 per page; a ceiling that high sometimes becomes a floor for government.
McElhany has heard protests from local governments, to which he responds, "Kinko's can make money at 10 cents, why can't you?"
The version as introduced also says there will be a cap of $15 per hour for the labor required to find and assemble the information.
Research fees didn't used to be much of an issue, but they are now. For some reason, computers theoretically make it harder rather than simpler to find documents. Or so the argument goes. What's more, some municipalities are outsourcing record-keeping to private firms, which want to be recompensed.
We have no objection to the outsourcing of government functions, so long as government doesn't use the technique as an excuse to delay or overcharge for record retrieval and copying. The bill is scheduled to be heard Tuesday in the Senate Finance Committee.
It was introduced in response to a public records survey conducted last summer by the Colorado Press Association. Twenty-three newspapers recruited residents of various communities to ask for public records in 21 counties. It turned out that Colorado has among the highest copying rates in the country. The $1.25 per page maximum is in fact the nation's highest.
The stories concluded Texas has the best system, with a uniform rate of 10 cents a page for governments throughout the state. But governments can charge for staff time if more than 50 pages have to be copied.
SB 45, patterned on the Texas law, deserves quick passage.
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