Category: 2006 Columns

This is the story of a bizarre state law that mocks the notion of “public information.” It’s about taxes. We need them. We hate them. We debate them. But often this debate is light on facts and heavy on spin and propaganda. One perennial question is how Wisconsin business taxes compare with those in other […]

Almost every state official, when asked, will express support for the public’s right to know how government operates. This is especially true of anyone who aspires to be attorney general, a job that entails authority to interpret and enforce Wisconsin’s open records and meetings laws. In fact, though, there are vast differences in the extent […]

Public records are just that — public. They should not be hidden or blocked by red tape or intimidation. They should be easy to access, view and learn from. Wisconsin’s Web site for circuit court records is a great example of government respect for the public’s right to know. The popular site, wcca.wicourts.gov, lists just […]

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council distributed questions to candidates for the office of Wisconsin Attorney General, which has a particular statutory role regarding the enforcement and interpretation of Wisconsin’s open records and open meetings laws. The council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that focuses on issues affecting public access to meetings and records. Sponsoring […]

Have you ever read news of a development project and wondered, “Now, when did that get approved?” Or have you been surprised to see the quiet field near your home become a new construction site? Don’t chastise yourself for being a bad citizen, or assume you’ve simply missed the project’s publicity. Your government may have […]

Gregg Walker is ticked off. “It’s absolutely ludicrous that this attorney general thinks she’s for open government and open records,”  fumes Walker, the general manager of The Lakeland Times newspaper in Minocqua, referring to Peg Lautenschlager. “In a critical test of the public’s right to know, [she] failed us and fought for secrecy in government […]

Wisconsin’s open meetings law is based on the idea that “a representative government of the American type is dependent upon an informed electorate.” But don’t tell that to two prominent Republican state senators. They seem to think that it’s better when the public isn’t involved. Republican Sens. Glenn Grothman of West Bend and Alberta Darling […]

About five years ago, Wisconsin State Journal reporter Dee Hall  wrote to the heads of the four partisan caucus offices then in operation in Wisconsin asking to see all the photos and graphics they had produced the previous year. Hall was acting on a tip that the taxpayer-funded offices, established to provide legislators with extra […]

Government officials have always wanted to shoot the messenger.  Now they’re taking aim at “leakers.” Elected leaders in La Crosse and Brookfield have passed ordinances to punish city workers or officials who reveal information from closed meetings. City council members want to use the local laws to decide – subjectively and after the fact – […]

(Revised August 2013) Wisconsin’s Open Records Law begins with a declaration: “In recognition of the fact that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official […]