Watson, Capriglione: Close loopholes in the state Public Information Act
FOIFT2017-01-27T15:53:31-06:00By Kirk Watson and Giovanni Capriglione Published by the Houston Chronicle Jan. 26, 2017 After the Sharpstown fraud and bribery scandal rocked the Texas Capitol in the early 1970s, Texans opted to "throw the rascals out" and elect a reform-minded Legislature to clean up the mess. A cornerstone of the 63rd Legislature's reform agenda was the Public Information Act of 1973, which empowered the people to see what their government officials were doing and hold them accountable. Lawmakers clearly stated that the public's right to know, in most cases, should prevail over other interests because information is key to accountability. But [...]