Bill would create committee to study future of public notices

With BC-CNS-Public Notices-Box

By SEAN MANGET
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Tuesday, Feb. 24) _ For now, newspapers will still be running public notices from city, county and town governments.

However, under a bill that won committee endorsement Tuesday a group of state lawmakers would study existing statutes requiring publication of legal or public notices in newspapers. It would  recommend changes by late 2011.

An amended version of HB 2253, which was defeated narrowly the first time it went before House Government Committee, represents a compromise between newspapers and the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Russ Jones, R-Yuma. The original bill would have allowed governments to post notices on official Web sites rather than newspapers.

The Arizona Newspapers Association, which advocates for newspapers, argued that such a change would make notices less accessible to the public. ANA hasn’t taken a formal stand on the amended version.

Public notices, usually published in a newspaper’s classified advertising section, include information on proposed ordinances, government financial matters and taxing plans. ANA has argued that publication in a newspaper creates an accessible, permanent record.

“Our main goal is to preserve the public’s right to know and giving people adequate notice for open meetings or otherwise giving them the opportunity to appear and be heard on issues of importance to our citizenry and our taxpayers,” said John Moody, an attorney representing ANA.

Jones told the committee, which endorsed the bill unanimously, that he met with ANA representatives before amending the bill.

“The consensus is that we really need to study this more thoroughly because of the breadth of the ramifications and the implications of this type of change that was being proposed,” Jones said.

The bill, which is headed to the House floor by way of the Rules Committee, would create a committee comprised of five House members appointed by the speaker and five senators appointed by the Senate president.

It would be charged with considering the public’s right to know against efficient use of taxpayer dollars. It would consider factors such as rural areas versus urban areas, the age of an area’s population, the percentage the population with Internet access and the cost of upgrading governments’ technology to provide the notices online.

The committee would have to issue a preliminary report by Nov. 30, 2010, and make recommendations by Nov. 30, 2011.