Editorial:

Missouri legislators omit themselves from Sunshine Law

The measure to honor the Sunshine Law failed 81-79.

Published April 28, 2009

Cdek: The measure to honor the Sunshine Law failed 81-79. Webhead: Missouri legislators omit themselves from Sunshine Law

Apparently, the Missouri Sunshine Law does not need to apply to the Missouri General Assembly. At least, that's how the Missouri House of Representatives feels. Although it looked as if the House might pass an amendment to the Sunshine Law, making it apply to legislators, the measure failed 81-79. The Sunshine Law allows for all records of public meetings, as well as phone calls and e-mails made on government telephones or computers, to be accessible to the media and anyone else that might desire to see it. All other government officials, including the governor, are subjected to the Sunshine Law, but the legislators are apparently in a league of their own. With the FBI looking into pay-to-play schemes among Missouri legislators, now is the time we need legislators to make their records public. These legislators are dealing with thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, yet we cannot have the ability to know what is going on inside their offices. Further, there is no way to make this situation look good for anyone who voted against it. The first and natural question that comes to our mind is what the politician might be hiding that they do not want disclosed. With the public distrusting the government so much, there is no legitimate political argument for a vote against the amendment. It is possible that the legislators might make the argument that constituents might be afraid to contact them for privacy reasons. Many agencies abide by the Sunshine Law and they still get plenty of calls from constituents. In the same bill, the House voted to strengthen the penalty for violating the Sunshine Law from $5,000 to $8,000. Yet the legislators are not willing to abide by the law they wrote. The legislators are clearly using this for political purposes. They have the ability to make it stronger, and claim to be supporters of the Sunshine Law, while excusing their own records. They need to, as public elected officials, recognize their obligation to submit themselves to transparency.