You're Alright, Governor Herbert

It's been my belief that the lawmakers of the fair state of Utah are not exactly the "best & the brightest." It seems that whenever there is a problem, our lovely lawmakers seem to find the most illogical, back-ass-ward solution possible. All of the stupid solutions they came up with seemed like pretty much standard procedure and, since none of it really bothered me too much, I didn't really care.

Then they hand to go and pull this garbage. I'm talking about HB 477. Unless you have been living in a cave on Mars, you have heard of this idiotic measure that would make living in Utah even suckier than it already is (an amazing feat in itself, I know). For those of you playing the home game, HB 477 is a bill that redefines GRAMA. Representative John Dougall, on utahpoliticalsummary.com, does a great job of explaining what GRAMA means so I'm going to let him do it: 

"The official name of the law is the Government Records Access and Management Act, and it’s codified at Utah Code Ann. § 63G-2-101 et seq. But for those less legally inclined, GRAMA is a law that allows citizens to request the disclosure of certain records from the state government that would otherwise remain in agency files, unavailable to Jon Q. Public. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why GRAMA is the darling of the media nursery, and often the proverbial thorn in the side of our esteemed public officials. Although it has helped launch plenty of “gotcha” pieces, the principle underlying GRAMA is less about “gotcha” stories and more about transparency and providing a means for citizens to responsibly and intelligently exercise their right to check their government through elections." 

So, how would HB 477 change GRAMA? Again, referring to Rep. Dougall, it would change it in four ways:

1. It would narrow the definition of a government "record." Instant messaging (like Gmail chat or Facebook chat), video chats, text messages, notes prepared by government officers or employees for the officer’s or employee’s own reference (it doesn’t matter if the subject matter of the note is a matter of public concern), and any communication by a governmental officer or employee made in a capacity other than that person’s official capacity would all be exempt from the definition of "record" and therefore could not be requested for public access. 
2. It would broaden the definition of "protected records." To read about what that means exactly, got read Rep. Dougall's post.
3. It would change the fee structure provisions of GRAMA. It would add processing fees (whether the request was granted or not), plus a bunch of other fees that can be read about more in depth on Rep. Dougall's post.
4. It would make changes in the burden of proof in challenging a denial of a GRAMA Request. (Just go to Rep. Dougall's post. Seriously, if you haven't yet, go right now. I'll wait.)

Essentially, HB 477 makes it a lot easier for our lawmakers to get away with things because their communications would not be classified as "records," not to mention that it'll make it even harder for people to access things that are records. I think Rep. Dougall hit the nail on the head when he said this less about catching legislators doing bad things. Rather, it's about transparency and allowing means for citizens to check up on their government. 

Now, our lovely Governor Gary Herbert did the unthinkable and actually SIGNED this godforsaken bill. At first, I was like most people, ready to call out such a moronic governor. I figured he was one of "them," meaning he was one of the legislators who wanted to make things easier for them to get away with stuff and harder for citizens to catch them. But, I admit, I was wrong. 

It turns out that Gov. Herbert had a plan all along (as stated in this heraldextra.com article): 

"Earlier Monday Herbert released a statement saying the public had lost confidence in the government because of the process that was used to pass the bill. Herbert also defended not veto-ing the bill in the first place because he said a veto would have been overridden by the Legislature and the law would have gone into effect immediately. Herbert instead worked out a deal to delay the start date of the law to allow for more public input on the bill. Herbert's deal also included amending the bill in a special session based on the public comment. Herbert said the public has a right to have access to government records and processes and that GRAMA is the hallmark of a modern republic."

Gov. Herbert knew that if he immediately vetoed the bill, it would have been overridden in legislature and then it would be curtains for all attempts at trying to stop it. Gov. Herbert was quoted saying "Not only have I responded to scores of GRAMA requests in my public career, I support this process as a private citizen. In fact, I care so much about the process in making policy, because the right process yields the right outcomes." Two days ago, Friday March 25, HB 477 was repealed by the Utah Legislature and will be open for changes and better solutions.

This one act of "sticking-it-to-the-man-while-still-being-apart-of-a-bigger-'man'' already qualifies Gov. Herbert as a bad-ass in my book, but WAIT! It gets better!

The bone-heads of our Legislature (I wonder if it's the same bone-heads of HB 477. If so, we need to stop electing said bone-heads) have also been trying to close state liquor stores in order to help cut state funding. The only problem is the state liquor stores bring in money! Liquor stores owned by the state actually provide the state with revenue from taxes and profits. And these guys want to close these stores? (Again, illogical, back-ass-ward, bone-headed solutions).

Not to fear! Governor Herbert is here! In an excellent article by Josh Loftin from businessweek.com, our awesome governor was quoted as saying, "All of us wonder why, if you're making money, why you would close those stores?" Why indeed. Herbert was also quoted as saying, "Closing stores that bring millions of dollars into state coffers is puzzling, especially during a slow economy." Obviously, Herbert opposes the closure of these liquor stores.

Is our governor the only lawmaker in our entire state with half a brain? It really looks like it, from my perspective at least. And I for one am very glad we have Gov. Herbert to lead our state and to be the voice of reason. And while my political opinion doesn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things, I applaud Governor Herbert's actions.  Way to stand up for the little guy and common sense! I mean, I'm nowhere near being a Republican but I'll vote for you.

So after it's all said and done, I still have a general distrust (and distaste) for the lawmakers in our fine state.

But Governor Herbert, you're alright.

Love you.
Mean it.