He wants bid to keep travel records secret added to school finance bill.
By PATRICIA KILDAY HART
| Houston Chronicle
21 June 2011
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's office has asked lawmakers hammering out details of a school finance bill to include an unrelated provision that would keep secret the expenses of the Department of Public Safety team that provides security when he and his wife, Anita, travel.
The issue is pending before the Texas Supreme Court, which is considering an appeal of two lower court decisions favoring the public's right to review the travel records under the Texas Public Information Act. The San Antonio Express-News, the Houston Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman filed suit in 2007 to obtain records after the DPS withheld them, claiming security concerns.
Lawmakers during the regular session failed to pass two proposals to keep the travel expenses private, but Perry's office last week resurrected the issue by asking lawmakers to add it to the school finance bill, according to members of the conference committee.
“We are discussing it and evaluating the merits of the idea,” said State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.
Some members of the conference committee were skeptical about including language that would limit the public's ability to know about government expenditures.
“Until I see the language, I am not sure I agree with it,” said Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. “Details like which hotel, restaurants or car rental — I am not sure those are relevant. But the cost and how many people travel — those kinds of things are important. Transparency is important to my constituents.”
DPS attorneys contend security efforts would be harmed by the public knowing details of how many officers travel with the Perrys or their patterns of travel. The newspapers have argued that security could not be an issue because the records are being sought long after the travel has occurred.
Read the rest...
