Lawmakers take steps to ‘boost transparency’ as session begins

In its opening meeting of the 2016 legislative session Monday, the Oregon House of Representatives made a series of changes that will improve transparency in state government, the House speaker’s office said.

The rules of the House, adopted in a 55-2 vote, will make it easier to see who is influencing legislation and how state government operates, the announcement said.

One major change that both the House and Senate made Monday will require all proposed amendments to include information about the requester of the amendment – information that previously was anonymous.

Going forward, each amendment will identify the requester – either a legislator, committee, individual, organization, local government, or state agency.

The House also made several updates to rules regarding public records requests.

Those changes include doubling the length of time public records must be retained from one to two years; requiring that House members provide an estimate of the number of days needed to fulfill a public records request if it is not completed within 21 days; and establishing a public records training policy that ensures all House members and their staff know how to comply with public records law.