From the Burlington Times-News (4/4/11): The chief sponsor of the Sunshine Amendment will now go to what he calls Plan C in an effort to make it more difficult for governments to close public meetings or exempt records from public inspection.
Rep. Stephen LaRoque, R-Lenoir, had planned to have his proposed constitutional amendment transformed into a statute that would require that further exceptions to public records and open meetings laws garner a three-fifths vote of both the House and the Senate before becoming law.
But the House Rules Committee on Monday night didn’t take too kindly to that approach, signifying that the General Assembly can’t impose such limitations without amending the N.C. Constitution.
“You can’t, by statute, limit what the Constitution says,” said Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford. Otherwise, it would have no force of law, he said.
Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam, R-Wake, agreed. “The latter statute would control,” Stam said, referring to laws passed later on that would further restrict open government.