Interesting in that here is a member of the Legislature sponsoring a bill to require government employees to comply with requests for public records by members of the Legislature within 10 days of a written request. And failure to do so would be held liable for contempt.
What is wrong with this bill? Nothing really. However, look at who is sponsoring it. This is the same body that exempted itself from the Open Government Act. Just what are we saying? This is sad to say the least.
This is a good example of why we are in such a mess. The proper thing to do is to make the Open Government Act applicable to the Legislature. The only reason I can think of why they oppose the applicability of the Open Government Act is that they will have to reveal how they spend the $150,000 that they each get. Right now, there is no accountability and they can spend it in the way they see fit, including on personal matters.
Is this what we want? I do not think so. We must change.
EFRAIN F. CAMACHO
Navy Hill, Saipan
