Public Records Gov

Public deserves access to Perry travel records

Reasonable people can disagree about whether Gov. Rick Perry 's ambitious travel agenda benefits Texas, but records detailing tax dollars spent while he is on the road should be public.

Yet Perry has renewed his efforts to hide from public view the Department of Public Safety security expenses required to accommodate his travel.

The Express-News reported this week that Perry is asking lawmakers to add a provision keeping those records secret to a school finance bill that is working its way through the ongoing special session.

Even members of Perry's own political party have expressed doubts about the wisdom of indulging his penchant for secrecy.

Perry's request comes after two measures that would have hidden public expenditures on his security detail failed to pass in the regular legislative session, the Express-News noted.

Additionally, the Express-News and the Houston Chronicle won lower court rulings requiring the release of DPS vouchers related to Perry's travels, which include 23 foreign trips since he became governor, but the DPS has appealed the rulings to the Texas Supreme Court .

DPS officials claim releasing the information about Perry's patterns of travel and the number of officers on his security detail would be a security risk, but that excuse doesn't hold water.

As newspaper lawyers have noted, records are being sought long after trips are taken.

The specifics of the security team's expenses clearly are public record and would not give any advance notice about what Perry will do or where he will be next.

The state has released lump sum expenses — the security costs for 23 foreign trips over seven years were about $1 million — but declines to release vouchers that reveal details.

As newspaper lawyer Bill Christian told the Express-News, details such as expenditures in 2005 for a golf cart and scuba diving equipment “would be lost forever” if Perry gets his way. The newspapers filed suit in 2007 after the state stopped releasing such details.

Hiding this information long after the trips does nothing but give Perry political cover. Texans have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

Gov. Scott quietly signs abortions bills, vetoes public records ...

Women must be given the chance to watch an ultrasound before receiving an abortion under a bill (HB 1127) signed into law on Friday by Gov. Rick Scott.

It was one of 14 bills Scott signed late Friday. Others included a second abortion-related bill (HB 1247) that tightens restrictions on parental notification when a minor seeks to end a pregnancy and another (HB 7185) that eliminates profit taxes for about half of Florida businesses.

While those actions were expected, Scott also vetoed a bill (HB 913) that created a new public record exemption for public airports.

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