Sunrise in Sacramento
Burton is confident his open-government measure will survive attacks by secrecy advocates

By Matthew Hirsch

Sponsors of the proposed Sunshine Amendment to the California Constitution say their bill has withstood lobbying from secrecy advocates, including Gov. Gray Davis, and is now headed for passage in the state legislature.

The Sunshine Amendment, officially known as State Constitutional Amendment 1, would strengthen the public's right to access government meetings and records. If passed by the assembly Appropriations Committee Aug. 28, SCA 1 will go to the assembly floor, where a two-thirds vote would place it on the March 2004 statewide ballot.

Late last month Davis staffers and various law enforcement agencies began lobbying SCA 1 author state senator John Burton to overturn the amendment's narrow interpretation of limits to public access to information. The California First Amendment Coalition, an SCA 1 sponsor, reported that the embattled governor was trying to cover the paper trail behind his executive orders.

CFAC and the California Newspaper Publishers Association, SCA 1's other sponsor, said that Davis's revisions were out of the question. The governor's press office did not return phone calls for comment.

Tom Newton, CNPA general counsel, said the sponsoring organizations would not only rescind their support if SCA 1 were watered down by amendments but would also publicize their opposition to the bill.

"We've made it very clear that any further amendments to weaken [SCA1] would cause the newspapers and the First Amendment Coalition to bail and rail," Newton told the Bay Guardian.

Newton singled out Davis's attempt to undermine SCA 1 as evidence of secrecy in Sacramento. "I think it's ironic that the governor has expressed his concerns not in an open public hearing about the bill but behind closed doors," he said.

SCA 1 sponsors agreed in June to add a clause reserving confidentiality for state lawmakers, overcoming special-interest opposition to win 34-0 approval by the state senate. A similar bill last year was killed in the assembly by last-minute lobbying.

"You know, it's been a long effort to get this thing through," Burton told us. "We couldn't get all the interested parties on board last year, but now it looks like there's enough common ground for these protections to finally make it out of the legislature and onto the ballot."

If approved, SCA 1 would create the presumption that public records are open and place on government officials the burden of proving why requested information must remain secret.

For more information go to the California First Amendment Coalition Web site, www.cfac.org.

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