The Missouri House on Tuesday opted to allow House members to restrict access to public records, two months after voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that subjects legislators to the state's Sunshine Law.
The GOP-controlled chamber changed its rules Tuesday, allowing lawmakers to keep confidential "constituent case files" and records relating to Democrats' or Republicans' "caucus strategy."
The new rule defines a "constituent case file" as "any correspondence, written or electronic, between a member and a constituent, or between a member and any other party pertaining to a constituent's grievance, a question of eligibility for any benefit as it relates to a particular constituent, or any issue regarding a constituent's request for assistance."
The move drew fire from Democrats, who said that the GOP had effectively usurped the will of the voters through a parliamentary maneuver.
Missouri voters in November approved Amendment 1, better known as "Clean Missouri," which, among other things, designates legislative emails as open records.
Sean Nicholson, Clean Missouri's campaign manager, said the courts could ultimately decide whether the House rule runs counter to the state Constitution.
"I think it would be pretty hard to justify ... in court and with constituents why they are trying to undo the will of the voters right after Amendment 1 passed in a landslide," Nicholson said.
Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O'Fallon, said that his communications are still open, but that he was seeking to "protect" his constituents' emails from disclosure. He said the media and others could exploit the new provision to air constituent communications that were once considered private.
"That is something that I am going to stand against," Schroer said.
Nicholson said the
Sunshine Law already details several exemptions public entities can use to redact or close records; those provisions allow for the closure of personal information in certain cases.
