Calling for a Uniform Fee Assessment Policy Governing all State Executive Agencies
As the 69th Montana Legislature gears up to meet this winter, lawmakers are spending time thinking about policies they believe will make the state better. The Montana Transparency Project believes one straightforward option is a law standardizing fees for right-to-know requests.
Our Hopes for the Right to Know
Elected candidates statewide, congratulations!
When our framers drafted the Montana Constitution, they wisely included measures to increase public participation—namely the right to know. They knew that this right would improve the responsiveness of the government to the people, and that it would increase Montanans’ confidence and satisfaction in the government, too. As Delegate Foster said, “The government will be better for it; the people will be the better because of it.”
It is now a part of your public duty to uphold this tradition of transparency.
Candidates Offer Views on Government Transparency, Right to Know
The Montana Newspaper Association surveyed candidates for the state legislature, Public Service Commission and statewide offices about their positions on government accountability, transparency and the right to know.
How Do I Make a Public Information Request?
We’ve written here about the history of the right to know, why it matters, and what policies affect your access to information. In this column, we’re going back to the basics so that Montanans, including you, are better equipped to exercise the right to know.
Montana Agencies’ Right-to-Know Fee Policies
In an effort to better advise Montanans with their information requests and to encourage transparency across state agencies, MTP solicited all state executive agencies for their current information request fee policies.
Litigating Your Right to Know
As hinted in our last column about the dangers of fees that agencies can impose to restrict your right to know, the government may be emboldened to restrict your right because it knows your only recourse for a denied request is to spend thousands of dollars to sue the agency that denied the request in court.
The Accessibility of Our Right to Know
The Right to Know only promotes good government if the people can exercise that Right. Unfortunately, our government can obstruct and effectively deny our Right to Know by charging exorbitant “fees” for completing requests.
Why Does Your Right to Know Matter?
As Montanans, we have a unique opportunity to demand transparency from our government through our constitutional Right to Know. Though six other states have similar provisions, Montana is the only state in which the legislature cannot restrict our right to request information.
What is the Right to Know, and Why Should You Care?
The Right to Know appears alongside your right to Freedom of Speech, Right to Bear Arms and Right of Suffrage in the Montana Constitution, and it is every bit as important. Under the Right to Know, you have a right to request public information from your state and local governments.