By Austin Lewter, Jimplecute
Several have inquired about the status of HB 537— the subject of last week’s column.
You’ll remember this is the proposed bill that would empower counties to post notices on their websites rather than in newspapers.
The House County Affairs Committee heard arguments on House Bill 537 last week.
The committee, let by Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), was receptive to witnesses from the Texas Press Association (TPA)— a group representing newspapers from across the state.
The bill’s author Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) was about to conclude his portion of the hearing when Coleman said, “Thank you for bringing us this bill. You know that it’s been brought up before, and it hasn’t done well, right?”
Patterson replied, “I did what I was asked to do.”
In his own way, Chairman Coleman was saying gently that the bill was unlikely to get out of committee.
By all accounts, this was acknowledged and understood by all in the room.
Private discussions prior to the meeting all indicated the same thing: that HB 537 was “not going anywhere.”
Coleman has long been an advocate for transparency in government.
While HB 537 was all but dead upon arrival, there are still several proposed bills that are equally as offensive to the public’s right to know.
They include:
HB 1030 by Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) — Authorizes governments to use alternative media to satisfy newspaper public notice requirements.
HB 2500 by Rep. Ernest Bailes IV (R-Shepherd) — Makes internet posting an option for public notices currently required to be in a newspaper.
HB 2578 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) — Creates a statewide website operated by the comptroller for multiple governmental purposes — including public notices. Newspaper publication would no longer be required.
HB 2928 by Rep. Jacey Jetton (R-Sugar Land) — Allows a public notice posted on the internet as an alternative to the newspaper.
SB 2006 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) — Makes internet notice an alternative to the newspaper.
HB 3410 by Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth) — Makes a governmental entity’s website posting an alternative to newspaper notice.
HB 1212 by Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) — Makes a law enforcement agency’s website an alternative for newspaper public notice in cases where seized property is being sold.
HB 1543 by Rep. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) — Under current law, the Public Improvement District Assessment Act requires a newspaper public notice for a hearing at which improvements (landscaping, lighting, signs, sidewalks, roadways, artwork, parking, water, wastewater, drainage, affordable housing, etc.) are proposed. If the municipality or county adopts the plan, a second notice is required six months later before the project is officially authorized and can go forward. This bill eliminates the second notice.
SB 2024 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) — Similar to HB 1543, his bill eliminates the current requirement for a newspaper notice informing the public that an improvement project is approved and moving forward.
While the GOP seems to be the party most in favor of less transparency in public notices, it is bipartisan affair.
A few such bills have been filed by Democrats as well.
They include:
HB 2194 by Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez (D-El Paso) — Allows an internet posting to fulfill any Water Code requirement for newspaper public notice.
HB 3027/SB 1642 by Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen), et. al. — Requires newspaper notice OR optionaliInternet posting for a navigation district hearing. The TPA is lobbying the authors to change the word “or” to “and.”
More than 60 other bills touch on public notice in one way or another, and each could be amended to be detrimental to the public’s right to know.
Newspapers serve as a reliable source of public notices in a world where broadband internet is still out of reach for many Americans.
According to the FCC, 19 million Americans still lack access to fixed broadband service at threshold speeds.
It’s worst in rural areas where, nearly one-fourth of the population —14.5 million people—lack access to this service.
It’s these rural areas that community newspapers serve best.
In many rural areas where broadband is available, poverty prohibits access to the service.
Though someone may not be able to afford internet service, they can usually afford less than a dollar a week for a newspaper subscription.
Furthermore, it is not the business of the government to dictate how to best be transparent.
At one time, that was a conservative ideal.
Austin Lewter is the publisher and editor of the Whitesboro News-Record. He can be reached at publisher@ntin.net