A Sunshine Week bill that should pass

It’s Sunshine Week, and the New Hampshire House has an opportunity to strike a small victory for open government.

House Bill 1591, a bill that originally would have created a much-needed grievance commission to hear and adjudicate Right to Know disputes in the state, has been gutted by the Judiciary Committee.

In its place, the committee passed a recommendation on to the full House that would change the notice requirements that state and local government entities have to follow before holding a meeting.

Currently, the law requires just 24 hours notice for a school or town board to hold a legal meeting.

HB 1591 would do two things: It would require the public be given at least 72 hours notice, and that the body holding the meeting post an agenda with that notice.

Lobbyists for cities and towns would have you believe that the extra two days notice and the agenda requirement would cripple local government operations.

It won’t. In fact, most boards probably give the public 72 hours notice already, and even if they don’t, neither the extended notice nor the agenda requirement seem especially burdensome to us. If a board wants to hold a meeting, it doesn’t seem like too much to ask that they notify the public ahead of time about when the meeting will take place and what will be discussed.

We suspect it’s that last part that really sticks in the craw of the municipal lobby, because sometimes officials would rather the public not know what’s on the agenda, even though it’s the public’s business. But giving people a heads up about the subject matter isn’t unreasonable ,and we think lawmakers should pass the committee’s recommendation.

We’ll be watching, too. We figure it’s the least lawmakers can do during Sunshine Week.