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SALT LAKE CITY -- A bill that restricts Utah's open record laws is headed to Gov. Gary Herbert's desk for his signature.
Under HB477, fees that can now be tacked on to looking at government records can run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The bill also expands the amount of time an agency has to respond to a GRAMA request, meaning in some cases requests could take months, even years to be completed.
The outcry is growing louder over HB477 as average people and experts alike are sounding off.
A national expert on government access called the bill an "anti-democratic, arrogant, condescending act by the Utah legislature."
Senate President Michael Waddoups has said the bill is intended to stop media "fishing expeditions." But watchdogs say only 30 percent of these open records or GRAMA requests come from the media.
Associate Professor Charles N. Davis from the Missouri School of Journalism is also a former national Freedom of Information chair for the Society of Professional Journalists.
In a scathing post online, he writes: "If HB 477 is signed into law, it's no stretch to say that there will now be 49 state public record laws -- and Utah's pending deformity."
He calls the measure an "atrocity" and says "HB 477 represents the most backward, retrograde legislative proposal to the status of a state's public records law."
Linda Petersen of the Utah Foundation for Open Government said, "We believe that this furthers a misconception that government employees are not responsible to the people who pay them."
People are equally upset on Twitter.
N8Ma tweeted: "My home state of #Utah was once a model of government transparency. Too bad this bill is trying to change that."
Vandalute tweeted: "We have officially entered the apocalypse."
On Facebook, a number of people are calling for Gov. Herbert to veto the bill.
A rally is planned at noon Tuesday at the Utah Capitol Rotunda.
Written with contributions from Andrew Adams.
