Democratic lawmakers have teamed with the libertarian Independence Institute to craft 2016 legislation that would lower a major hurdle for Coloradans seeking access to public records.

In an unusual pairing of players from opposite sides of the political spectrum, state Sen. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, and state Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, are working with liberty-politics lightning rod Jon Caldara’s Independence Institute to update Colorado’s Open Records Act for the digital age. As proposed, the bill would do away with time-consuming and costly printing and photocopying by requiring that officials turn over requested electronic records in electronic formats and at no charge.

“Sen. Kefalas working with the Independence Institute; that’s about as much of an odd couple in the Legislature as you can get,” said state Rep. Justin Everett, R-Littleton.

The “odd couple” supporters of the idea say it’s about ratcheting up government accountability, which is in everyone’s interest, no matter where they might stand on the political spectrum.

At a Dec. 16 meeting on the bill at the Capitol, Kefalas said he is hoping to add a Republican co-sponsor.

“I would welcome the support,” he said.

Jon Caldara

Caldara, who is president of the Independence Institute, said he is waiting to see final language before committing full support to the bill, but he said the idea just makes sense.

“I’m thrilled Kefalas is taking up what is a minor change to (the open records act), and a very commonsense (change) at that. We’re on the same page,” Caldara said. “The idea is to be able to get public information in the format in which the government makes it.

“Not all branches of the government and not all departments in the state are as equally forthcoming with public information,” he said. “Nearly all of it is in electronic format, and it’s easier for someone who is doing research to get it in that form.”

Kefalas was moved to propose the bill after reading an editorial from The Fort Collins Coloradoan about the newspaper’s frustrated efforts to gain access to a digital version of the payroll records of Colorado State University’s 5,000-member staff and faculty.

The Coloradoan is investigating complaints of gender-based pay inequities at the university. In order to easily compare and contrast salaries, Coloradoan reporters have been seeking access to digital files of the pay records that allegedly already exist. The university administration has been accused of playing coy with the newspaper by pointing out that the records already are available to reporters in paper format at one of the university libraries.

Kefalas also noted that Colorado received low and failing grades from The Center for Public Integrity in a recent report on the commitment of governments in all 50 states to areas like public transparency and official accountability.

“We have a responsibility to make sure that the public has access to public records. This is about making government as open and as transparent as possible,” Kefalas said.

Regional Transportation District Board Member Natalie Menten, a longtime advocate for access to government spending records, said the issue was clearly of bipartisan concern and that the sponsors are working under that assumption. She said Kefalas and Pabon are determined to reach out widely and bring out a bill that will enjoy broad support.

“Anybody who would fight this measure would have to take a hard look at why they’re in government, because the citizens should be in control of their government,” Menten said. “It’s the public’s duty to keep an eye on the government. Digital records make that easier for the average citizen.”

During the meeting at the Capitol, representatives from city and county organizations expressed concern about the bill’s draft language. Mainly they pointed to wording that would eliminate charges that would pay for staff time dedicated to redacting private information from public documents, which even in electronic formats would be a burden for smaller-staffed city and county departments.

Another concern was that data-mining companies looking for information to sell might flood governments with records requests. Government employees working to review and redact and deliver the information would be swamped.

Everett said he thought the proposal made sense but that he also wanted to see strong protections put in place to ensure that private data collected by the government wouldn’t be set loose into the wilds of the Internet jungle to be abused.

In the past, Everett has proposed legislation that would eliminate school districts from collecting student and parent information.

“The public has the right to know, but there needs to be firewalls around any personal data the government can collect,” he said. “For example, the school districts collect a lot of data on kids, which I don’t think they should do.

— ramsey@coloradostatesman.com