Bill Description: House Bill 33 would establish a new system for publishing public notices on the state controller’s website.
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Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related to government activity or increase government transparency, accountability, or election integrity?
Idaho law requires government entities (and under certain circumstances, businesses) to release public notices. These public notices are typically published in newspapers or distributed through the mail. House Bill 33 would create 60-106B, Idaho Code, to allow for the electronic publication of such notices.
This bill would require the state controller to "facilitate the receipt, storage, and publication of notices, publications, and other information that are published pursuant to this section and ensure that the same are accessible to the public free of charge." There are simpler and less expensive alternatives such as shifting to electronic publication on news websites rather than physical papers or allowing the parties issuing such notices to do so on their own websites.
In time, this system called for by this bill would be required to "allow users to subscribe to receive electronic notifications of public meeting notices of governmental entities, with the ability to filter such notices by the location of the public meeting and the location of any project site address required by law to be included in a public meeting notice."
While email notifications seem sufficient to meet the requirements laid out in this bill, its statement of purpose says the state controller will "create the ability for users to subscribe and receive push notifications," which suggests a more complex (and expensive) system.
Public notices are a necessary component of transparent government. The system called for in this bill, however, seems unnecessarily complex and expensive, given that many government entities and newspapers have websites and email systems capable of providing such notifications. The goal of shifting to electronic publication of notices can be accomplished without increasing government's size, scope, and spending.
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Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
The fiscal note for House Bill 33 estimates the state controller will incur one-time development costs of $570,000 and ongoing operational costs of $300,000 annually.
It also suggests that the state and local governments could save up to $1 million annually if they choose to stop publishing notices in newspapers once this new system is fully operational. It is worth noting that the bill does not require governments to stop publishing notices in newspapers; it merely gives them the option not to if they use the electronic system. The estimated savings are therefore contingent on governments not being swayed by the inevitable lobbying efforts of local newspapers.
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