Category: Your Right To Know

This has not been a good year for open government in Wisconsin. Last July’s sneak attack on Wisconsin’s open records law, though beaten back, was just one of several efforts to erode our state’s proud tradition of transparency. These included a successful move to reduce transparency in campaign finance reports and the use of extra-legal […]

Among the many remarkable things about the defeat of the proposed overhaul of the Wisconsin Public Records Law over the July 4 weekend last summer was the way the media, open government groups, advocacy organizations on the left and right, and the public coalesced to point out how ill-conceived the idea was. The reaction to […]

The last six months have been a roller coaster for Wisconsin’s open records law. After the Legislature’s failed attack on the law over the Independence Day holiday, August brought a new threat. A little-known state board expanded the definition of “transitory records,” which can be immediately destroyed. Once this action was revealed, there was an […]

In 2015, Wisconsin advocates for open government faced a disquieting truth: If we want to preserve our state’s tradition of transparency and accountability, we must fight for it, against powerful players who will be fighting back. The most egregious attack came on the cusp of the July 4 holiday weekend, when the Legislature’s Joint Finance […]

Scott Resnick, a former Madison alderperson, is proud of the work he’s done to advance the cause of open data. In 2012, the city enacted what he says was only the second open data ordinance in the country. Open data is the practice of releasing huge quantities of public information in electronic form so it […]

Follow the money. That’s one of the key lessons in politics, right? Follow the money and you’ll find answers. Follow the money and you’ll see who’s influencing whom. Follow the money and you’ll be able to connect special interest donors to the legislators whose votes can benefit them. But it might be about to get […]

On July 9, the members of the Wisconsin state Assembly collectively affirmed their support for open government. They passed a resolution stating that the Assembly “remains committed to our state’s open record and open government laws and policies, and will take all necessary steps to ensure that these laws and policies are preserved without modification […]

Newspapers are usually reluctant to go to court. But sometimes we must, to protect our ability to report the facts readers need to assess the performance of their elected officials. That was the case in February 2012, when Racine’s Police and Fire Commission was picking a new city police chief. The search had narrowed to […]

Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel noted the danger of tinkering with transparency at the summit he convened July 29 on open government. “Messing with open government laws is like touching the third rail,” Schimel said. “I think that lesson has been learned recently.” The folks now running Madison got their hands burned while taking an […]

On July 2, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee unleashed a shocking assault on the state’s long and proud tradition of open government. It happened at night, on the eve of a holiday weekend, just a few hours after the proposal was first unveiled. No one has taken credit for it. Committee co-chair Sen. Alberta Darling, […]

A provision snuck into the state budget bill by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee would deal a significant blow to open government in Wisconsin. The provision, part of an omnibus motion of changes affecting the University of Wisconsin System, would exempt universities from the rule in place for all other state agencies regarding the naming […]

The office of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has crafted a new interpretation of the state’s open records law, claiming it can exempt records used in developing a final decision from disclosure. In this case, “new” is not “improved.” Earlier this year, records requesters asked the office for its communications with the Department of Administration, after […]

In a recent column, state Attorney General Brad Schimel called for updating the state’s open government laws to meet the challenges of the digital age. He’s exactly right. The laws were enacted long before the Internet — let alone Facebook and Twitter — came into being. They must be updated and strengthened to make sure […]

Wisconsin’s new attorney general, Brad Schimel, contended in a recent column that the state’s open government laws “are outdated and do not adequately address today’s technological environment.” He promised to initiate a process to provide “clearer guidance … without reducing rights to access.” The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a state group devoted to protecting […]

For the ninth straight year, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council is bestowing Openness in Government awards, or Opees, in recognition of achievements high and low. The awards are part of the observance of national Sunshine Week (sunshineweek.org), March 15-21. The nonpartisan council consists of representatives of media organizations and others devoted to the cause […]

Deep in the bowels of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2015-17 budget is language to exempt research done by the University of Wisconsin System from the state’s open records law, unless it is published or patented. This blanket exemption would spare the UW from needing a good reason to deny access to these records, as current […]

One of Wisconsin’s most vexing open records issues could be headed toward resolution. For the past several years, problems have arisen over differing interpretations of how the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act should affect access to records here. Journalists and others contend it was never meant to block the release of routine information in police […]

It’s a pretty simple question for a public official: “What exactly do you do with your time?” Sometimes, the best way to answer that question is to obtain the official’s calendar, through the state’s open records law. In my work as a reporter, I’ve done this for the state treasurer and his staff, who work […]