Accomplishments

2022

RTKNH bill from 2021 became law.  These are:

HB481 – establishing the office of the right-to-know ombudsman and making an appropriation therefor

2021

1 of the 2 bills RTKNH drafted became law.  These are:

HB108 requires public body to maintain a list of sealed minutes which is available for public disclosure.

2019

David Saad, RTKNH president, was awarded the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award by the New England First Amendment Coalition.  The Citizenship Award is given to New Englanders who have fought for information crucial to the public’s understanding of its community or what its government is doing — or not doing — on its behalf.

2 of the 3 bills RTKNH drafted became law.  These are:

HB396 requires citing the specific exemption when records are denied and reasons for delays be provided in writing.

HB286 insures there will be no charges (cost or fee) to inspect records.

2018

2 of the 9 bills RTKNH drafted became law.  These are:

HB252 states when someone files a petition in Court that all documents filed with the petition and also any responses to the petition shall be considered as evidence by the Court.  Additionally, all documents submitted to the Court shall be provided to the opposing party prior to any hearing.

HB1347 states that meeting minutes must now include the names of the members who made or seconded each motion.

2017

2 of the 4 bills RTKNH drafted became law.  These are:

HB178 establishes a 13 member study commission on resolving Right-to-Know complaints.

HB460 states that meeting minutes must now include any objections made to any discussions during a meeting if a member of the public body believes that the discussion is in violation of the Right-to-Know law.  

A presentation on the Right-to-Know law was created.  This is a comprehensive review of the Right-to-Know law and covers governmental records, minutes, public and nonpublic meetings, and violations.

RTKNH was awarded the First Amendment Award by the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.

Donna Green, a RTKNH member, was awarded the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award by the New England First Amendment Coalition.  The Citizenship Award is given to New Englanders who have fought for information crucial to the public’s understanding of its community or what its government is doing — or not doing — on its behalf.

2016

2 of the 3 bills RTKNH drafted became law.  They are:

HB1418 requires that public bodies non-public minutes meet the same minimum standard for content as their public minutes.

HB1419 requires that public bodies record all actions during non-public meetings in such a manner that the the vote of each member is ascertained and recorded.

HB606 states that no fee shall be charged for the delivery or inspection, without copying, of records.  This bill was similar to HB138, a bill drafted by RTKNH which was introduced in the 2015 session to accomplish the goal that ‘no fee shall be charged to make a governmental record available for inspection’.  While HB138 was killed, the language from our bill was incorporated into HB606.

2015

The passage of HB108 moves a key vote from private to public meetings, holding public officials more accountable.  Prior to HB108, the Right-to-Know law was silent about where a public board could vote to seal minutes of a non-public meeting. Sealing the minutes keeps them private, locking up what happened during the non-public meeting. If the vote to seal is recorded in the sealed minutes, then how public officials voted is also hidden so there is no accountability. HB108 requires all public bodies to take this vote in public.  For more details.  This is the first bill initiated by RTKNH that was signed into law.

Harriet Cady, a RTKNH founding member, was awarded the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award by the New England First Amendment Coalition.  The Citizenship Award is given to New Englanders who have fought for information crucial to the public’s understanding of its community or what its government is doing — or not doing — on its behalf.