lawmakers entering 'twitter age' with open meetings upgrade - electronic message boards

AUSTIN —
On Thursday, the attorney general approved a proposal that would free elected officials in the state to discuss public business electronically in an open online forum.
This measure was submitted by senzhou. , D-
Austin, just the latest attempt to update the Texas Public Information Law.
"We brought the public conference Act into the Twitter era, the Facebook era.
"We have brought it into an era where we are used to a different way of communicating," Watson said . ".
"But it must be open and transparent.
"State open government laws currently prohibit most governing bodies such as municipal councils, county committees or school committees from communicating outside of publicly announced meetings.
However, in the era of e-commerce
The state senator said that mail, online chat and text messages have become the standard of communication and the government needs to keep up with it.
The bill will allow the state and local management boards to create online message boards where members can discuss business between public meetings that are officially released.
As communication progresses, Watson says, these conversations must be seen by the public and be on the body's web page for at least 30 days.
After this period, according to the state's public record law, the board must maintain a record of discussion for at least two years.
While the bill allows more free dialogue between meetings, elected officials can still vote in person only on official government forums.
"This will create a virtual work conference," Watson said . ".
"If they have each other's problems or the ones they want to solve before the next meeting, they can ask questions and don't waste time.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Abbott said his office was responsible for enforcing the state's open government laws, often hear from elected officials about the issue that their electronic communications may be subject to the Texas Public Information Law.
The most recent update to national laws was in 1995, where only paper, movies, vellum and computer memory are currently approved as official media where public information can be recorded.
Everything else can be opened to the publicfrom e-
Emails and text messages for tweets and Facebook posts
A series of explanations of the law from the staff of the attorney general.
It does not prevent conflicting explanations.
In recent years, members have opposed the opinion of the attorney general that the text messages exchanged at council meetings are open information.
Bexar County Commissioner challenged another ruling of the office on 2010
The Mail discussing municipal planning on his private account must be released after The Courier
News submitted a request for public records.
"We need to clarify which media may be reported, including individuals and governments --
The head of Texas's ACLU told the state Senate open government committee last year.
State representative on Thursday. , R-
Corpus Christi has proposed a bill that will address many of Burke's problems.
The proposal will update the country's public information law, specifically including text messages, instant messages and all forms of electronic communications, and will have all official or private accounts as the subject matter, it is used by elected officials to discuss government operations to open requests for records.
Hunt's bill will also violate state open meeting laws and conduct private electronic discussions among officials during public meetings.
As for Watson's measures, Abbott said on Thursday that under the law, it will not limit any information that is currently public, and will only provide new avenues for government officials to engage in dialogue in the public eye.
"When modern technology is used to make it easier for the government, the public will always benefit," he said . ".