Colorado Open Records Act

Senate Bill 157 would let state lawmakers discuss bills and other public business electronically by email or text message without that dialogue constituting a public meeting.

Supporters say the system helps lawmakers decide which bills should get a piece of the state’s limited budget. But critics have raised transparency concerns, saying it shuts the public out of an important part of the legislative process.

The leaders of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition on Thursday sent Democratic lawmakers a letter saying their system known as quadratic voting violates the state’s sunshine laws and “deprives the public of its right to observe important decision making — in real time.”

Democrats who control the state legislature are increasingly using a survey they fill out in secret to help determine whether bills live or die. The results are kept from the public, raising questions about transparency and potential violations of the state’s sunshine law.

Earlier this month, Fort Collins Coloradoan reporter Nick Coltrain won the First Amendment Award at the Society for Professional Journalists’ Top of the…

Advocates say Senate Bill 40 does something simple: It brings the Colorado Open Records Act into the 21st century by requiring state agencies to provide…