GRAMA Amendments Act: Time to Name Names

The Utah legislature sure did manage to get H.B. 477 passed in a hurry — just 72 hours. What does this bill do that is so important as to require such speed and energy? Why, it protects the legislators from being embarrassed, that’s what.

Utah’s open records act, known as GRAMA (Government Records Access Management Act) is our state’s equivalent to the Freedom of Information Act. It entitles the public to obtain copies of government records. H.B. 477 shields many records from release and increases the amount the government can charge for copies of other records. It’s still up in the air whether or not Gov. Herbert will sign off on it.

The bill managed to pass both the house and the senate without much of a fuss, so chances are good that your representatives voted for it. If you don’t know who your representatives are, just go to this page and enter your address. For your convenience, I’ve listed the “yeas” from both the house and the senate below. If you find your rep’s and/or senator’s names, you might want to give them a quick call and let them know how you feel about them stomping on your rights. You might also want to send a quick message to the governor letting him know how good his re-election chances are if he signs this.

House:

Anderson          Fisher, Julie     Last              Richardson
      Barrus            Froerer           Mathis            Sagers
      Bird              Galvez            McIff             Sandstrom
      Brown, D          Gibson            Menlove           Sanpei
      Brown, M          Greenwood         Morley            Sumsion
      Butterfield       Grover            Newbold           Vickers
      Christensen       Handy             Nielson           Webb
      Clark             Harper            Noel              Wheatley
      Cox               Hemingway         Oda               Wilcox
      Daw               Hendrickson       Painter           Wiley
      Dee               Herrod            Perry             Wilson
      Dougall           Hughes            Peterson, J       Wimmer
      Draxler           Hutchings         Peterson, V       Lockhart
      Dunnigan          Ipson             Pitcher
      Edwards           Ivory             Powell
      Eliason           Kiser             Ray               

Senate:

       Adams           Hinkins         Okerlund        Valentine
       Bramble         Jenkins         Reid            Van Tassell
       Christensen     Knudson         Stephenson, H.  Waddoups
       Davis           Liljenquist     Stevenson, J.
       Dayton          Madsen          Thatcher
       Hillyard        Niederhauser    Urquhart