To its credit, Texas has among the most robust sunshine laws in the country. It’s a statute that has been repeatedly updated to address new challenges and close loopholes. For instance, In 2019, lawmakers wisely revised the Public Information Act to require government workers to preserve text messages in their private devices that concern official government business.
But if officials are using apps designed to delete messages soon after they are received, what is there to retain? How can Texans track what business is being conducted in their name, and with their tax dollars?The use of apps like Signal might not be a violation of the Public Information Act as it’s written today, but it certainly goes against the spirit of the law.
Perhaps we’re shouting in the wind here, given Paxton’s acquittal. But GOP lawmakers in both chambers occasionally give the impression that they care about government transparency. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican who voted to acquit Paxton on all charges and one of the most seasoned legislators in the Senate, is the keynote speaker at a Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas luncheon on Sept. 28 honoring journalists and other open government champions.
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