Legislation

Perennial bills eliminating the posting of legal notices in newspapers have returned. Public bodies argue that being posting notices online versus in the newspaper would present cost savings.

At the request of the Governor’s office of energy resources, the General Assembly also approved legislation exempting from public scrutiny a variety of information collected by that office from fuel suppliers in the state.

There was one small bright spot on the open records front this year. The House and Senate each approved legislation requiring independent fire districts to post draft minutes of their meetings online.

After years of negotiation between open government groups, law enforcement, and the Attorney General’s office, the General Assembly this year passed much-needed legislation strengthening the state’s open records law, known as APRA.

The General Assembly, in an effort to ease the financial burden on school districts, has eliminated a requirement that districts post advance notice of school committee meetings in newspapers.

A law passed last year allowing the state to appoint receivers to take over fiscally-distressed municipalities was strengthened this year over objections from the ACLU and lawmakers from Central Falls.

ACLU efforts to strengthen the state's open records law, known as APRA, fell short this year.

For the third consecutive year, legislation was introduced that would strengthen the state‘s Access to Public Records Act in numerous ways.