Tom Kamenick urges lawmakers to prioritize ease and availability of open records

February 28, 2018 – Milwaukee, WI – Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) Deputy Counsel Tom Kamenick testified Tuesday on the importance of open government to the Assembly Committee on Constitution and Ethics. The Committee held an informational hearing on Ethics in Government: Balancing Transparency and Privacy. Six different speakers of diverse perspectives, all with an interest in government transparency, were invited by the committee to give testimony.

Tom Kamenick, WILL’s open government specialist, delivered remarks titled Public Access to Government Documents Essential for Liberty. He explained to the committee the value of government transparency in a free society. Tracing the roots of open government principles, the benefits of government transparency for a free society, and the ills of secretive government, Kamenick argued that state lawmakers ought to prioritize ease and availability of open records and information to the public.

Kamenick’s testimony said in part:

“Representative government is dependent on an informed electorate – not merely benefited by it, but reliant upon it. All persons are entitled, and to what? To some information? No, the greatest possible information. And not only information about high ranking people who could be deemed “officers” but mere “employees” of government as well.”

Read Tom Kamenick’s entire testimony here