By Asher Price
Austin American-Statesman
Originally published Jan. 3, 2020
How much taxpayer money did the University of Texas pay the rapper Ludacris to perform after a spring football game last year? Or how much money is the Teacher Retirement System paying for new digs in downtown Austin?
Public entities declined to release information that would answer either of these questions, posed by the American-Statesman, citing rulings handed down by the Texas Supreme Court in 2015. They were among dozens of requests the Statesman made under the Texas Public Information Act over the past four years that were denied, citing the same rulings.
But a state law pushed by government transparency advocates that took effect Wednesday may require local and state governmental entities to start providing answers.