Journalists, free speech advocates raise concerns over state bill that would limit access to public records

Published: April 17, 2024

By: Claire Sullivan LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — Louisianans may soon lose access to great swaths of government records currently made available upon request under the state public records law.

A Senate panel voted 6-2 Wednesday to advance a bill — backed by Gov. Jeff Landry and sponsored by Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek — that would gut public access to information at every level of government.

The proposal, Senate Bill 482, would bar access to “any records reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.”

Cloud said this would allow government employees to give opinions to decision makers “without fear of later being subject to public ridicule or criticism” and prevent unfinalized information from being disseminated.

Read more at WBRZ.