One of the bills to restrict the release of records from the governor’s office dead for the session

West Monroe Senator Jay Morris has withdrawn his legislation that would have restricted the public release of records and internal communications from Governor Jeff Landry’s office. Morris made the announcement on the Senate floor

“The perception around these bills has become that everybody is trying to hide something, and I absolutely do not want to be associated with trying to hide anything.”

There is pushback against Governor Landry’s efforts to restrict public access to certain government records. Morris says he agrees with the governor’s desire to keep certain records out of public view, but it’s hard to find a balance between transparency and keeping government information hidden

“For that reason, I’m going to make the motion right now to withdraw Senate Bill 423 from the files of the Senate.”

There are still two other bills alive in the legislative session that would limit public access to state government records, but it remains to be seen if they can get approval in the Senate.