Deliberative Process Privilege bill gets preliminary approval

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The Vermont Senate wants to create more access to government records.

Senators have given preliminary approval to a bill that would deny both the Legislature and the governor the ability to keep records private based on “deliberative process privilege.”

Such documents would describe how state officials deliberate public policy.

Governor Jim Douglas’s administration has invoked that principle on a couple of occasions, prompting the Legislature to consider taking it away.

There are more than a hundred exceptions to Vermont’s public records law. The Senate wants to study whether more of the exceptions should be repealed.

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