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The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is meeting on Friday, Sept. 18 in Austin, to push for stronger open-government laws – and better enforcement of existing ones – in advance of the 2027 legislative session.
“It’s vitally important for us to keep watch on our government,” foundation board vice president Yvonne Mintz told the Austin Free Press. “That means knowing how taxpayer money is spent and how government decisions are made,” said Mintz, who’s also the publisher of The Facts in Brazoria County. “Transparency breeds trust.”
Texas once had some of the nation’s strongest open-government laws but legislative loopholes and government practices have chipped away at the information that governments must disclose, experts said.
This state adopted the 1973 Public Information Act in the wake of the Sharpstown political corruption scandal, which prompted the replacement of half the members of the Texas Legislature. However, its boundaries have been repeatedly reshaped by lawmakers and the courts as new exceptions have been added, existing provisions have been reinterpreted and lawmakers have sometimes stepped in to restore access after court rulings narrowed it.
Promise versus reality
FOIFT already has taken those concerns to lawmakers. Mintz and Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas Executive Director Kelley Shannon testified before the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight on the Texas Public Information Act, on Aug. 26. Also testifying that day on the issue was James Quintero, policy director of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“What I see are problems related to non-responsiveness, long delays, exorbitant cost estimates, excessive redactions, and unsearchable electronic information,” Quintero told lawmakers. He also criticized more than 70 exceptions to the law, saying “the promise and the reality of the (Public Information Act) are worlds apart.”
Delay tactics
Shannon told the Austin Free Press that government delay tactics are one of the law’s biggest impediments.
“This can happen in several ways, but it boils down to some bad-acting governmental bodies using tricks and loopholes in the Texas Public Information Act and abusing the law’s intent as they try to keep information secret,” she said.
Shannon said that governments create obstacles to public disclosure by invoking exceptions to disclosure, seeking time-consuming attorney general rulings on those exceptions, and charging excessive disclosure fees.
“Some governments unnecessarily seek attorney general rulings when information is clearly public, such as basic contracting information or finalized audits,” Shannon said. “Some give requesters unfair, expensive cost estimates for obtaining records that deter the requestor from pressing forward.”
And sometimes governments do all of the above. “We have seen governments require the payment of a large cost estimate up front, then they seek an attorney general ruling to thwart release of the information,” Shannon said. “Additionally, some governments overuse and misuse the attorney-client privilege and litigation exceptions” to public disclosure.
After the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, news organizations sued the Texas Department of Public Safety for access to records, including body-camera footage and emergency communications. DPS argued that releasing the records could interfere with an ongoing investigation. When a Travis County state district judge later ordered the agency to release the records, the state appealed.
Mintz said withholding public information can create information vacuums. When basic facts are unavailable, she said, rumors and speculation can fill the void, making it harder for communities to understand what happened and to trust the government players who are involved.
Austin attorney Laura Prather, who sits on the foundation’s board, said the Public Information Act has become “a shield against the public being able to get their information,” with loopholes that allow taxpayer money to be spent to prevent taxpayers from learning how their government works.
These issues hit home in Austin. Earlier this year, Austin Free Press reported that the Save Our Springs Alliance sued the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority over its refusal to release thousands of public comments related to the proposed MoPac South expansion. CTRMA argued that the comments were internal deliberations that should remain confidential until the environmental review was complete.
Austin Free Press also recently reported on the city of Austin’s refusal to release records on the closed-door executive session where the Austin City Council voted to spend an estimated $1 billion on new natural-gas peaker plants.
Mintz said that her priority for the 2027 legislative session is to enact stronger penalties for governments that try to circumvent or violate open-records laws.
“When the law is clear, we don’t need to be seeking an attorney general’s opinion,” Mintz said.
Shannon said that the foundation is also likely to urge the legislature to require governments that lose open-records cases in court to pay the requester’s legal fees.
“Currently, this isn’t a given in Texas,” she said.
Sunlight
Shannon said that one bright spot is that more Texans have become aware of their open-government rights. Meanwhile, some government entities have embraced technology to proactively make more information freely accessible online. The City of Austin, for example, publishes datasets through its Open Data Portal.
At the Aug. 26 House hearing, Committee Chair Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, said that putting more information online could reduce the number of government records requests. He asked how lawmakers could “thread the needle” between making government more transparent and limiting abusive requests. Government officials at the hearing raised concerns about the staff time and resources needed to respond to high-volume records requests.
In May, Austin Free Press launched its Government Accountability Project in partnership with The Austin Bulldog. That database puts Public Information Act records online, where residents can search such things as government contracts, performance evaluations, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and salaries.
Experts gather
To elevate open government and transparency challenges, the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas conference brings together people who approach government transparency from varying perspectives, including reporters, government officials, attorneys, legislators and the general public. Conference panels will cover free speech on college campuses and Texas’ anti-SLAPP law, which protects people from lawsuits intended to intimidate them from exercising their free speech rights. Other sessions focus on expert advice on using open-government laws, including to obtain immigration-enforcement information.
NBC News chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake will deliver the keynote address. The foundation also will present its James Madison Award posthumously to Texas journalist and former FOIFT board president Diana Fuentes, who died in March.
“Access to public information and free speech go hand in hand,” Shannon said. “We can’t effectively speak to and about our government without knowing the facts.”
Shelby Ligon is the government reporter for the Austin Free Press.
Disclosure: Save Our Springs Alliance Executive Director Bill Bunch sits on the Austin Free Press Advisory Board.
Support for the Austin Free Press’ reporting on government accountability and watchdog reporting comes from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation. Sponsors do not influence AFP’s editorial decisions.
