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The Wisconsin Newspaper Association's Government Update newsletter is sent monthly, alternating every two weeks with distribution of The Bulletin. |
WISCONSIN OPENNESS REPORT
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The Wisconsin Openness Report, a compilation of newspaper coverage of Open Meetings and Freedom of Information issues from across Wisconsin, will now be sent to WNA members as a stand-alone e-mail.
Each report will be distributed every two weeks. The message will contain links to allow readers to download and view a PDF of coverage from each newspaper listed.
Watch your inbox for the early June report!
Have a recent article regarding open meetings, open records or other freedom of information topics to submit to the report? Send a PDF via e-mail to Mary.Callen@WNAnews.com.
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WISCONSIN PUBLIC NOTICES ONLINE
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WisconsinPublicNotices.org is designed to assist citizens who want to know more about the actions of local, county and state government as well as events occurring in the local and state court system.
Search for public notices by keyword, date, newspaper or location.
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Wisconsin Capitol Police issue identification
guidelines for media; establish separate media entrance
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The Wisconsin Capitol Police issued media identification guidelines on June 11, 2011, allowing media the ability to access the State Capitol by using a separate media entrance.
According to the guidelines (click here to download the PDF) issued by Chief Charles A. Tubbs Sr.: Members of the media are not granted to access to non-public areas or use of hearing rooms without authorization of the Senate or Assembly Sergeant. Members of the media will need to follow all policies, rules or regulations regarding the Capitol building, Senate and Assembly floors. This includes screening upon entering the building.
News Media are defined under the guidelines as a person gathering news for:
- Newspapers of general circulation in and out of Wisconsin
- A recognized wire service such as the Associated Press or Reuters
- A paid, subscription based information service publishing on a daily or regular basis (WisPolitics)
- A photo service
- A radio station
- A TV station
- A cable station offering public affairs programming
Individuals that request media access will need to provide one of the following forms of identification:
- Employee identification badge (with news media logo/information) with photo
- Employee badge with name and show a photo ID (driver's license, etc.)
- Employee business card and show a photo ID
- Officially signed letter from the employer documenting status to cover event for the news organization with office address, phone, email, along with photo ID
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Clarification of public access to conceal and carry data
| The Wisconsin legislature is considering Senate Bill 93 which will make it lawful to carry a concealed weapon in the State of Wisconsin.
Access Denied Senate Bill 93 as amended provides for licensing and proof of training prior to obtaining a license to carry a concealed weapon and prohibits public access to the identities of individuals licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Access Granted Senate Bill 93 contains a provision providing that the identity of the licensee be made publicly available, "in the context of a prosecution for an offense in which the person's status as a licensee is relevant."
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association requested and received clarification from legislative staff in consultation with the Legislative Council regarding the intent of the statutory language "in the context of a prosecution for an offense in which the person's status as a licensee is relevant".
The question posed by the WNA was whether the identity of the individual carrying a concealed weapon that involved the "prosecution of an offense" included information contained in the traditional daily police blotter...and if so, would the identity of the licensee appear in the report or would it be redacted.
The response conveyed to the WNA from legislative staff stated that police reports involving concealed weapons will be available for public inspection.
The relevant section of Senate Bill 93 reads as follows:
Section 41, sub. (12) AB126,34,7(c) Notwithstanding s. 19.35, the department of justice, the department of transportation, or any employee of either department may not make information obtained under this section available to the public except in the context of a prosecution for an offense in which the person's status as a licensee is relevant or through a report created under sub. (19).
Access Granted Senate Bill 93 also provides public access to the annual statistical information maintained by the Department of Justice which is charged with administering the licensing process. The relevant section of Senate Bill 93 reads as follows:
(19) Statistical report.
By March 1 of each year, the department shall submit a statistical report to the legislature
under s. 13.172 (2) and to the governor that indicates the number of licenses applied for,
issued, denied, suspended, and revoked under this section during the previous calendar year.
For the licenses denied, the report shall indicate the reasons for the denials and the part of the
application process in which the reasons for denial were discovered. For the licenses suspended
or revoked, the report shall indicate the reasons for the suspensions and revocations.
The department may not include in the report any information that may be used to
identify an applicant or a licensee, including, but not limited to, a name, address,
birth date, or social security number. |
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For reference: Recall election candidates
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There are nine Senators facing recall elections - six Republicans and three Democrats.
Read more from the Associated Press >> or find out more from Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board website.
Candidates interested in taking on the Democratic incumbents have until June 21 to file.
Senate District 2: Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) is being challenged by Nancy Nusbaum.
Senate District 8: Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) will be challenged by Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay).
Senate District 10: Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) is facing Shelly Moore.
Senate District 12: Sen. Jim Holperin (R-Eagle River). *Recall organizer and local tea party leader Kim Simac and Lincoln County Board Chairman Robert Lussow are among those vying for the chance to take on Holperin.
Senate District 14: Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) will be challenged by Rep. Fred Clark (D-Baraboo).
Senate District 18: Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Oshkosh) is challenged by Jessica Clark.
Senate District 22: Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha). *Fred Ekornaas, Kenosha County Board vice chairman, and Jonathan Steitz, a Kenosha attorney, will run as Republicans.
Senate District 30: Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay). *State Rep. John Nygren of Marinette and recall organizer Dave VanderLeest are among candidates expected to run as Republicans against Hansen.
Senate District 32: Sen. Dan Kapanke (R- La Crosse) will face Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse).
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Your Right To Know:
Judge gives meetings law vital support
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Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Freedom of Information Council (www.wisfoic.org), a nonprofit group dedicated to open government. Steve Lund is the editorial page editor of the Kenosha News, where a version of this column appeared. ______________
By Steve Lund - No matter how people feel about the changes to Wisconsin's collective bargaining laws passed by the Legislature in March - and then voided on May 26 by Judge Maryann Sumi - Wisconsin residents should take heart in Judge Sumi's decision. She declared the state's Open Meetings Law means something.
"This case is the exemplar of values protected by the Open Meetings Law: transparency in government, the right of citizens to participate in their government and respect for the rule of law," Judge Sumi wrote in her decision. "It is not this court's business to determine whether 2011 Act 10 is good public policy or bad public policy; that is the business of the Legislature. It is this court's responsibility, however, to apply the rule of law to the facts before it." Read more >> |
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Action requested:
Rule would restrict access to
Statements of Economic Interest
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The following alert was prepared by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (WFOIC) and its members by Bill Lueders, the group's president. WNA is represented on the WFOIC and is among the group's founding organizations. ______________ Though the full repercussions are unclear, a legislative move to restrict access to statements of economic interest compiled by the Government Accountability Board, is deeply troubling. A provision in a motion adopted May 24 by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee would greatly restrict access to the statements. The motion (click here to download), at Point 6, would "amend current law to specify that statements of economic interest and any information contained therein may only be available for public inspection and copying at the office of the Government Accountability Board."
Currently, requesters can fill out an online form - see http://ethics.state.wi.us/EOFR/Pages/RequestSEI.aspx - and have these statements sent to them; this motion would apparently require that they make the journey to Madison to view these records in person.
In addition, some basic information on these records is now available online, at http://ethics.state.wi.us/EOFR/Pages/. It is possible to do key word searches here, for instance to instantly identify which public officials have an economic interest in a given company, like Exxon or BP.
It has been suggested (download letter from Christopher Ahmuty of the Wisconsin ACLU) that this motion "will prevent the GAB from providing these indices online." GAB spokesperson Reid Magney tells me "We really do not know the impact of it. It's possible we may have to remove the indices from the website, but at this point we don't know."
Magney says it's unclear if the motion might affect the ability of requesters to purchase the entire database, as some media outlets and nonprofit groups have done for the purpose of making this information available online.
This Joint Finance Committee's action, says Magney, means that this provision will become part of the state budget bill. It would have to be specifically removed or amended.
Though the full repercussions are unclear, this legislative move to restrict access to this information is deeply troubling. While there's no doubt some public officials would prefer that this information be more difficult to obtain, there is no sound public policy justification for doing so. This is information that the public has a right to access, to protect the integrity of our public institutions.
The Freedom of Information Council hopes that this provision receives much more scrutiny and debate, and asks for your help in making that happen, through news stories, editorials and other communications.
Bill Lueders, president
Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Lueders can be reached at (608) 251-5627 or (608) 669-4712 |
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McIlhern leaving Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
to join Sen. Ron Johnson's staff
| Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Patrick McIlheran, a columnist for the Journal Sentinel's op-ed page since 2004, is leaving the newspaper this week to take a job with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's staff.
McIlheran, who will work out of Johnson's Washington, D.C., office, will research issues and write about them for the senator. McIlheran also will work for the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, of which Johnson is the ranking member.
McIlheran's last column for the paper is scheduled to be published Sunday. |
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Push to close plants, post offices speeds up
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 | | Max Heath |
Max Heath, National Newspaper Association postal chair, is a postal consultant for Publishing Group of America (American Profile, Relish, and Spry) and Landmark Community Newspapers, LLC. Email maxheath@lcni.com. His columns appear in NNA's Publisher's Auxiliary. ______________ The U.S. Postal Service is drowning in debt, with little signs of relief from Congress for costs with which previous Congresses have burdened USPS. And as revenues continue to fall, especially from its most profitable product, First-Class Mail, USPS has little choice but seek to cut expenses. NNA CEO and Director of Public Policy, Tonda Rush, is on Capitol Hill weekly, either solo or as part of a coalition of mailers, seeking to get restitution (no way is this a bailout) of various overcharges from the government, starting with the $5.5 billion per year for prepaying retiree health benefits, imposed merely to help the deficit in 2007 and beyond. USPS is the only public agency required to prepay. So USPS pays over $2 billion in current charges while prepaying over $30 billion so far. NNA's Postal Committee and Board of Directors has taken no official position on consolidation of some of the 600 processing facilities out of consideration for USPS finances, considering the 42% decline in First-Class mail over the past nine years. Likewise, we have no official position on closure of small post offices, knowing that there truly are some offices where everything has left the town except the post office, making it hard to justify keeping it open. Read more >> |
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Joint SPJ conference offering public
records, media law sessions in New Orleans
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The joint Excellence in Journalism 2011 conference in New Orleans, Sept. 25-27, will offer the public records and media law related sessions:
The event is co-sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
Records of Disaster
Find out more about obtaining government documents for covering hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, fires, oil spills and other disasters. Learn what public records are available to help you better cover disasters in your community, whether it's deadline reporting or following the aftermath's long-term effects.
Data on the Web Made Easy
Learn how to post data on your website or blog using free, simple software that provides readers the ability to search tables and look at maps and slick charts. In addition, walk away with dozens of ideas for data you can post online that people will love.
Be a Public Records Ninja: Overcoming Stonewalling and Denials
Knowing how to get and use government records in the face of official stonewalling can elevate reporting from ordinary to extraordinary. Get tips on gaining access to government records and get advice on how best to respond to denials. You will walk away with the ability to draft more effective FOI requests and appeal letters than you ever have before.
Find out more at: http://www.excellenceinjournalism.org/content/programs.
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