Shine On

Celebrating Sunshine Week, an annual observance of the public's right to know what our government's up to.

Why should you care about access to government information? The introduction to the Texas Public Information Act answers that question:

... The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.

In other words, we give the government power to enforce laws, levy taxes and so on. But that government is made up of individuals who must remain accountable to the rest of us.

The Legislature encourages this accountability with a law from last session. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who enforces open government laws in the Lone Star State, praises local and state officials complying with this requirement for public employees to undergo open government training.

Hopefully this will cut down on some of the delays members of the public encounter when seeking public documents. Remember, they work for us.