Senator Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, is refiling the Government Transparency Act this week in the North Carolina General Assembly, coinciding with Sunshine Week, a national initiative that promotes open government and accountability.
Sanderson’s bill (SB 299), filed on Monday morning, aims to enhance public access to government employee disciplinary records at the state and local levels. Officials at the North Carolina Press Association commended the bill for making an effort to improve government transparency in the state.
“Against the backdrop of national ‘Sunshine Week’, Sanderson’s bill tries to lift North Carolina from the bottom 5 open government states and move it to the top,” wrote NCPA Legislative Counsel John Bussian.
The Government Transparency Act would give North Carolinians first-time access to on-the-job, state and local government employee performance records (but not medical records); and reasons (a general description) why a state or local government employee or law-enforcement officer has been demoted, suspended with or without pay, transferred, or fired.