Keep Caucus Meetings Open
I would like to echo the sentiments of a recent letter to the editor regarding closed meetings of the House Republican Caucus. This week the House Democratic Caucus voted unanimously to continue to keep our caucus meetings open to the public and to the press. Caucus meetings are held each Tuesday morning in the Blatt Building, which is public property owned by the taxpayers of the state.
The recent scenario to exempt a Caucus of the General Assembly from the Freedom of Information Act began when the Rules Committee met shortly before session to pass new rules changes for consideration in what was deemed an “emergency meeting”. While it is customary to make rules changes within the first few weeks of session, there was no valid reason for an “emergency meeting”.
The proposal to change the House rules was presented on the House floor without 24 hour written notification, which is required for all bills. Since rules are not considered legislation a motion to have the rules change debate postponed for one day was denied, as well as, all other motions that would slow the process giving members time to study the proposals overnight. In the past copies of the rules changes have been given to members for review before voting, but in this instance, members did not have access to copies of the changes until after the debate began and requests were made.
Rep. Doug Jennings (D) Marlboro County, pleaded with the body to reconsider the proposal which flies in the face of the Freedom of Information Act, as well as, our accountability to the public. He also stated that the Rules committee meeting set precedence for any public body to hold an “emergency meeting”. His argument convinced many Republican House members to vote against the rules change, but not enough to defeat the measure which passed by a 59-52 vote. The vote for passage was a partisan vote with the exception of two Democrats from the midlands.
I, along with most members serving in the General Assembly were not there in the late “80’s during South Carolina’s Operation Lost Trust, but most South Carolinians remember this as a blight on our state’s political process. Operation Lost Trust eventually led to stricter ethics laws, more public accountability and “sunshine” relating to the actions of all public bodies, as it should be.
Caucus meetings are held to discuss opinions regarding legislation, policy and public business and should not be exempted from law.
The recent scenario to exempt a Caucus of the General Assembly from the Freedom of Information Act began when the Rules Committee met shortly before session to pass new rules changes for consideration in what was deemed an “emergency meeting”. While it is customary to make rules changes within the first few weeks of session, there was no valid reason for an “emergency meeting”.
The proposal to change the House rules was presented on the House floor without 24 hour written notification, which is required for all bills. Since rules are not considered legislation a motion to have the rules change debate postponed for one day was denied, as well as, all other motions that would slow the process giving members time to study the proposals overnight. In the past copies of the rules changes have been given to members for review before voting, but in this instance, members did not have access to copies of the changes until after the debate began and requests were made.
Rep. Doug Jennings (D) Marlboro County, pleaded with the body to reconsider the proposal which flies in the face of the Freedom of Information Act, as well as, our accountability to the public. He also stated that the Rules committee meeting set precedence for any public body to hold an “emergency meeting”. His argument convinced many Republican House members to vote against the rules change, but not enough to defeat the measure which passed by a 59-52 vote. The vote for passage was a partisan vote with the exception of two Democrats from the midlands.
I, along with most members serving in the General Assembly were not there in the late “80’s during South Carolina’s Operation Lost Trust, but most South Carolinians remember this as a blight on our state’s political process. Operation Lost Trust eventually led to stricter ethics laws, more public accountability and “sunshine” relating to the actions of all public bodies, as it should be.
Caucus meetings are held to discuss opinions regarding legislation, policy and public business and should not be exempted from law.
posted by webmaster
at 2:59 PM
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