Barbieri's secret email bill deserves delete button This editorial was published by the Idaho Press-Tribune of Nampa. We've been saying that it's time for this bland legislative session to end. Further evidence is provided by northern Idaho Republican Vito Barbieri, who is proposing legislation (House Bill 233) that would exempt communication among legislators from Idaho public record laws. It's a scary proposition, for certain, but no more frightening than the makeup of the House State Affairs Committee, which may give Barbieri enough votes to pass this goofy bill. The committee includes Rep. Heather Scott of Blanchard, whose only claim to fame this year was speculating about how female lawmakers gained committee chairs. The committee also includes our own Rep. Brent Crane of Nampa, the House assistant majority leader who has been building good working relationships with the Capitol correspondents and has appeared to be friendly toward openness and transparency in government. Hopefully, he can be a voice of reason on this issue. Another "hope" is for the committee chairman, Rep. Tom Loertscher of Iona, to slide this disaster into his desk drawer and forget about it. This bill should not see the light of day. If the bill happens to pass the House, the Senate should send it to the shredder. Barbieri's proposed exemption, in addition to applying to emails among legislators, also would hide research requests made by lawmakers and all personal identifiable information of private citizens contacting legislators. Barbieri argues that secrecy among legislators is essential to the legislative process. Last week, he received a nod of approval from House Speaker Scott Bedke, who told journalists, "There are a lot of ideas not ready for prime time." We say, baloney. The vast majority of email discussions among legislators will remain private. No news organization, or private citizen, has the time or inclination to sift through all the email exchanges of 105 legislators. But they are, and should be, available to the public upon demand if there are issues of concern. And it's not "fake news" that people are digging for. "We are a group of working journalists," said Betsy Russell, president of the Idaho Press Association. "We rely on openness in government and public records to do our job of keeping people informed about their government, a fundamental mission of our free press. The making of laws to govern Idaho is the public's business, and we believe it should remain so." This isn't just an Idaho Press Club issue. Taking away a tool for reporters to gather information is an infringement on the public's right to know. And any citizen should be able to see communications from their legislators. The Idaho Legislature is not a private club. The state provides legislators with computers and an email system, and we all pay for it. While there will be no rush to obtain, let alone read through, the many thousands of emails that are sent by our legislators, it's good that they keep in mind that correspondence is subject to public scrutiny. The public has the right to expect their senators and representatives to exercise high professional standards in the process. Idaho's public records law contains several exemptions for the content of records. If the content of an email is exempt from disclosure, then a legislator can redact that content. However, a blanket exemption for the mode of delivery of that content is a far overreach and abuse of secrecy in government. The Idaho Legislature generally gets high marks for openness, but not with this bill. Transparency in state government would take a huge hit if this measure gets beyond the Legislature's "trash" file. .