A call to action: Protecting New Hampshire’s right to know law

By Richard H. Girard
Publisher
The N.H. House of Representatives will vote on HB 1002 on Thursday. The bill would impose a fee of up to $25/hour on Right To Know requests to, “make the record available to the requestor, including time to search, retrieve, duplicate, redact, and otherwise make the record available for the requestor.”

In short, it’s a bad idea.

Part First, Article 8 of the New Hampshire Constitution, entitled Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know, reads, in part: “All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted.”

Proponents of the bill argue that imposing this whopping fee isn’t unreasonable; it’s designed to deter frivolous requests, largely from out of staters, that are designed to sop up the time of erstwhile public employees.

While it is unfortunately true that some occasionally abuse the Right to Know law, this new law would enable a far greater abuse of government against its citizens. The N.H. Constitution makes clear it is citizens who have a RIGHT to know what their government is doing and fees based on the estimates of those who wish to keep their actions out of public sight is not a reasonable restriction of that right—it’s an invitation to scuttle it.

The bill wouldn’t just infringe on the rights of citizens to discover what their government is up to; it would hamper efforts of news organizations like the Eagle Times. There is no carve out for the press in this legislation and we wouldn’t support it even if there was.

Attorney Gregory V. Sullivan, president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, issued a statement saying: “House Bill 1002 is a monumental step in the wrong direction. If enacted, it will discourage and prevent the citizenry of New Hampshire from gaining access to public records.”

Joining the opposition is the N.H. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose legal director Gilles Bissonette issued a statement saying the bill would “deter critical Right-to-Know requests, undermine government transparency, and give government agencies another tool to obstruct providing information to taxpayers…by implementing significant fees to get this important information, many requests will never be made.”

The Eagle Times joins these organizations and media outlets, Right to Know advocacy groups and taxpayer associations across the state, including the N.H. Press Association, in opposing this bill. We call on the legislators in our circulation area to vote against this bill and ask our readers to contact their state representatives to urge their opposition before Thursday’s vote. You can find your state representative at https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members.

Thank you.