Analysts: Wayne Hoffman and Lindsay Atkinson

Analyst’s Note: Amendments made to SB 1338 have eliminated the Idaho Freedom Foundation's concerns with the bill.

In our original rating we were worried that the bill would restrict access to information about the public’s interactions with state and local government agencies, including planning and zoning documents, tax appeals and exemptions, enforcement actions, memos and correspondence between a resident and a government agency and so on. Because being unable to tell who a government agency is talking to reduces public oversight of government agencies to a virtual impossibility.

In its new form, SB 1338 allows a balance between protecting personal information and allowing the public and the press to have markers to identify some aspects of who the government is talking to.