So it looks as if advocates for public records will have to clone themselves Monday to testify on similar bills up at 1 p.m. in the Judiciary Committee and GAE. Here is a letter signed by the co-chairmen of the Government Administration & Elections Committee co-chairmen, Sen. Anthony Musto of Trumbull and Rep. Ed Jutila of Niantic, to Chris VanDeHoef, executive director of the Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association:
“Dear Mr. VanDeHoef:
Thank you for your letter regarding S.B. 381, An Act Implementing the Recommendations of
the Task Force on Victim Privacy and the Public’s Right to Know. Although we did not plan to
have both committees hold their hearings on the same day, we believe that it actually may be
better for those wishing to testify. Unlike legislators and advocacy groups, our citizens cannot
take multiple trips to the Capitol to testify on these bills due to their jobs, family commitments
and simply inconvenience. Rather than make them come twice, they can come once and testify
twice. We will not prevent anyone from testifying who wants to do so. I am sure that if we had
two meetings on different days on the same bill we would have heard complaints that we were
forcing people to make two trips to the Capitol.
Please consider this an opportunity to address the members of two separate committees on the
same issue on the same day. Such an opportunity is unusual in most bills have only one hearing
before one committee. Hopefully, this “problem” will result in a better bill at the end of the
process.”