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When I was younger there were always public service announcements on television that were aimed at kids. One was "how a bill becomes a law," which had catchy music to go with it. I remember it always played on Saturday mornings which of course was "prime time" to us kids.
I was reminded of the public service announcement last year when a bill was moved through the state house and signed by the governor that would expand the public's right to know into the internet age.
For the past few years there have been bills introduced in the legislature to chip away at the requirement that government entities must publish certain public notices. Attempts have been made to only require municipalities to post notices only online.
As a member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) Legislative Committee, I have been very in-tune to these assaults on public notices. Fortunately our state senator and the assemblymen who have represented this area over the years have never supported any of these bills.
Last year through the hard work of the WNA an agreement was made that all notices published in the newspaper would also be required to be published online. While everything was worked out, one thing was lacking and that was someone to sponsor the proposed bill in the state assembly.
I put a call out to Representative Howard Marklein and asked if he would sponsor the bill. After reviewing the information Marklein agreed and said as an advocate of openness, the decision was easy.
Along with Senator Joe Leibham, Sheboygan, Marklein co-sponsored Wisconsin Act 228. The legislation updated the newspaper industry's public notice process by requiring that all public notices published in the newspaper also appear on the website wisconsinpublicnotices.org.
Marklein guided the bill through the assembly, where it was passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by Governor Scott Walker on April 6, 2012.
After the law was passed Marklein told the WNA the "law enhances government's reach to today's online readers while protecting the critical third-party oversight that newspapers provide."
For their effort Marklein and Leibham were given the "Badger Award" at the WNA Annual Convention last week. The "Badger Award" recognizes an individual, group or organization that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to protect and enhance openness in the conduct of the people's business. It is the highest honor given by the WNA to a non-member.
In accepting the award Marklein said, "In my area of the state, newspapers are an important source of information. People in rural areas depend on their local papers to keep informed about local and statewide issues."
I would also like to thank Marklein for working on this issue with The Dodgeville Chronicle and me. So thanks Howard for your support of openness in government and taking this bill and running with it.