A View of the Valley

by Linda Schwanke I received an email late last week that concerns a bill before the state legislature that could, in effect, allow our governmental bodies in Wisconsin to hide their actions from public view. The bill is written to allow the government to discontinue publication of legal notices in newspapers. That’s a bad thing. I wrote this column on Sunday, planning to share with you contact information for our state officials so you could contact them to protest the bill, Senate Bill 55. Monday morning I learned that the bill was being fast tracked and could be voted on as early as Tuesday, February 16. It’s probably too late, now, for you to act before the bill comes up for a vote and I won’t be able to tell you what the result of that vote was until next week. But I’m sharing this in the hope that you will continue to monitor what is going on at the state, and local and national, levels of government. Our form of government is based on people being able to elect, by majority vote, the people they want to represent us in making decisions large and small that concern our governmental entities and, by extension, our lives. If those decisions are made in secret, there is no accountability for our elected officials and that, too, is a bad thing. This is not a right or left, conservative or liberal, democrat or republican issue. It concerns all of us. We have a right and a need to know what is happening at every level of government so we can decide, by vote, if the people making the decisions should stay or go.  “This is bad public policy under the guise of cost savings that would create considerable disruption for government transparency. Supporters of Senate Bill 55 suggest local government websites are sufficient to notify the public of their actions and that publishing meeting minutes in the newspaper limits access only to newspaper subscribers,” Beth Bennett, executive director, Wisconsin Newspaper Association, Madison, wrote.  She continued “The fact is, however, that all legal notices published in the State of Wisconsin are available and accessible for free to the public through WisconsinPublicNotices.org. This comprehensive, searchable website hosted by the Wisconsin newspaper industry brings together ink-on-paper notices into one online location. This service is provided at no cost to local municipalities. “The goal of WisconsinPublicNotices.org is to enhance government distribution of public information and assist citizens who want to know more about the actions of their local, county and state representatives. This permanent, third-party documentation – unalterable and independent of government – ensures the protection of ‘your right to know’ for every citizen. “The relationship between newspapers, state and local municipalities and WisconsinPublicNotices.org has successfully provided easy access to government information for all citizens, whether they seek it in print or online. Removing existing publication requirements would create holes in this invaluable statewide database while also neglecting the needs of those who lack adequate computer and internet access.” I would add that the newspaper industry is not worried about this because if legal notices aren’t published it will hurt profits. Legal notices prices are set by the state and aren’t hugely profitable but they are hugely important as information for the public. They aren’t at all expensive in a dollar sense for municipalities to publish, either. Check your local municipal budget – it’s minimal. They expense of not publishing the notices is taking away your rights – your freedoms – to know what is going on at every level of government.  Stay in touch with me and with our elected officials. Contact information for our state legislatures is: Senate District 27 Senator Jon Erpenbach, District 27, can be reached at Wisconsin State Capitol, P.O. Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707, phone: (608) 266-6670, toll free: (888) 549-0027 or email sen.erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov Senator Howard Marklein, District 17,  can be reached at his Madison office at 316 East, State Capitol Mailing Address: PO Box 7882 Madison, WI 53707-7882, phone: (608) 266-0703 or email: Sen.Marklein@legis.wi.gov Rep. Dave Considine  Assembly District 81 Representative Dave Considine can be reached at: P.O. Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708, phone (608) 266-7746, toll-free (888) 534-0081 or email Rep.Considine@legis.wisconsin.gov Assembly District 51 Representative Todd Novak can be reached 310 North - PO Box 8953 - Madison, WI 53708-8952, phone (608) 266-7502 or email Rep.Novak@legis.wisconsin.gov You can reach me at 574-3159 nearly 24/7. Email me at homenewseditor@newspubinc.com or write to me at the Home News, P.O. Box 39, Spring Green WI 53588. The news deadline is 12 noon on Mondays. Visit our website at homenewsrv.com