DENVER — Colorado lawmakers will attempt to override Governor Jared Polis' veto of a bill that would update the state’s open records law.
Senate Bill 25-077, which had bipartisan support in both chambers of the legislature, would change how long local and state government agencies have to respond to records requests. How long it would take would depend on who is filing the request.
Supporters of the bill say it would provide some much-needed relief to records custodians who are overwhelmed with requests. However, critics say the bill would create a special class and treat many citizens who are seeking to get public documents unfairly.
“As citizens, these are our records,” said Cory Gaines. “We pay for this. As citizens, we are supposed to be the people who are watching the government.”
Gaines is a teacher and a part-time journalist who likes to keep an eye on those in power.
“Over time, what I do has evolved into doing a fair number of records requests through departments all over the state,” said Gaines.
He believes SB25-077 could make it harder to get public records under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).
CORA requires that most public records be made available to the public, and it applies to nearly every local and state government agency. SB25-077 would extend the time a records custodian has to respond to a request from three days to five, and potentially up to 10 days under extenuating circumstances. If the request is determined to be for financial gain, custodians would have up to 30 days to respond.
The bill’s sponsors say the extended timeline would help records custodians who are overwhelmed with requests.
“Most of our governmental entities have had a drastically increased number of CORA requests over the past decade,” said State Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, one of the bill’s prime sponsors in the Colorado Senate. “Some of those requests are large and unmanageable.”
However, the changes would not apply to traditional mass media outlets, which would likely have their requests filled faster. Brandon Wark believes that’s not fair to bloggers like him and everyday Colorado citizens who want to know what their government is doing.
“It creates a system in which mass media companies get special privileges,” Wark said. “They still have the three-day turnaround rule, where they can get that information faster than the general public.”
Polis vetoed the bill last week.
“The bill leaves the custodian with far too much power to define who is and is not a member of the media, and what is and isn't news,” Polis said in his veto letter. “For instance, a public official may deem a request from a media outlet focusing specifically on climate change as not meeting the statutory definitions of 'newsperson' or 'mass medium' given the perspective of some elected officials that climate change is categorically not news.”
- Read the full veto letter below
Polis said it would also be inappropriate for records custodians to determine if the request is being used for financial gain.
“Indeed, even a conventional and legitimate request from the media might derive a financial benefit, in the sense that a for-profit news outlet, in addition to serving the public interest in covering government business, makes profit from advertising or subscription based on gaining viewership or readership from a story that uses information obtained in a CORA request,” Polis said. “I am concerned about the inconsistent application of these new provisions, given the novel, subjective determinations required. Involving the government with prioritizing or determining the category of requesters could suggest bias or favoritism.”
Wark said he was happy to hear about the governor’s veto.
“I think the governor had it right with this one, that transparency is the right thing to do for the people,” said Wark.
But lawmakers are planning a vote to override the governor’s veto on Friday. It would take a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override a gubernatorial veto.
“A veto override is a different calculation that every member will have to make,” Senate President James Coleman said. “Senator Kipp is open to conversations with each senator about this bill, so she’s still having those conversations with each member in our chamber.”
Among other changes, the bill aims to strengthen privacy protections for students and requires public entities to post the rules concerning public records requests on their website.
In addition to Kipp, the bill is sponsored by State Sen. Janice Rich, R-Grand Junction; State Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta; and State Rep. Michael Carter, D-Aurora.
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