Sunshine Law Hearings In Jeff City

by Ava Neels, Missouri News Network

The senate heard testimony Thursday morning to amend the Missouri Sunshine law.

The law, passed 50 years ago, brings transparency to government by making the records, meetings and actions of government bodies available to the public.

The new act is sponsored by Republican Senator Andrew Koenig, who says the sunshine law has been abused over the years to retrieve private information.

Gary Figgins of Kennet, Missouri testified against the bill. He says there’s already plenty of loopholes that allow public officials to circumvent the intent of the sunshine law and emphasized the dangers of privacy.

Despite being a partisan bill, opponents and supporters agreed that the sensitive information of citizens should be kept private.