Amendment #4 to H3858

Public Record Legislature Commission

Representatives Hill of Ipswich, Jones of North Reading and Kelcourse of Amesbury move to amend the bill by inserting at the end thereof the following new section:—

“SECTION X. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there is hereby established a commission to study the application of the provisions of the public records law to the legislature.  The commission shall consist of 3 members of the Senate, 2 of whom shall be appointed by the senate president and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the senate minority leader; 3 members of the house of representatives, 2 of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the house minority leader; the clerk of the senate; the clerk of the house of representatives; and the executive director of Common Cause or a designee.   The commission shall investigate the feasibility and practicality of applying the provisions of the public records law to the legislature. The study shall include, but not be limited to, a survey of public records laws in other states, the appropriateness and feasibility of the collection of fees associated with public records requests of the legislature or individual legislative offices, costs associated with enabling legislative offices to comply with public records requests,  privacy protections for constituents and any liability issues that could arise from such privacy concerns,  and a comprehensive investigation of any other unique challenges presented by a public records request of the legislature.

The commission shall submit its findings and recommendations to the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight not later than December 31, 2016.”