AUSTIN - Texas once boasted one of the strongest laws protecting public access to government records, including those that detail how taxpayer money is spent – and often misspent.
But the law has been slowly defanged in recent decades by opinions from the attorney general’s office and the Texas Supreme Court, which have broadly accommodated corporations and government agencies that would rather keep their records secret.
Bipartisan bills passed both chambers last week would revive the ailing Texas Public Information Act by, among other things, ensuring that government contracts are released to journalists and citizens who want them.