As Sunshine Week spotlights the virtues of open government, North Carolina lawmakers face a pivotal choice: embrace transparency or cling to secrecy.
Two bills — state Sen. Norm Sanderson’s, R-Pamlico, “Government Transparency Act,” SB 299; and state Rep. Pricey Harrison’s, D-Buncombe, House Bill 322, to “Make General Assembly Records Public” — offer a path forward, challenging a culture of opacity that has kept the “First in Freedom” state among the nation’s least transparent and one which betrays our Esse Quad Videri motto.
Public trust in institutions, particularly government, is in the basement; reinforcing freedom of information is a critical step towards restoring it. Too often, our state government operates behind closed doors, enabling public servants to operate outside of the public purview. That needs to change.
First, Sanderson’s SB 299, filed this week, targets a glaring gap in accountability. It would grant North Carolinians access to disciplinary and performance records of state and local government employees — excluding medical details — revealing why an employee was demoted, suspended, transferred, or fired. The North Carolina Press Association (NCPA) applauds this move, noting it could lift the state from the depths of the bottom five in government openness, an embarrassing position in which to find ourselves.
Yet, opposition from the NC State Employees’ Association (NCSEA), which stalled a similar 2010 effort by Senate Leader Phil Berger, still looms large. However, their concern — that transparency might deter public service — completely misses the mark. Public servants aren’t entitled to shield job failures from taxpayers who fund their salaries. This bill isn’t about shaming; it’s about ensuring responsibility.
Meanwhile, Harrison’s HB 322 tackles a different assault on openness: the 2023 budget’s stealth public-records restrictions. Slipped into the budget without debate, these changes let lawmakers destroy their own records and curtailed public access to General Assembly documents. Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat, is right to call it a betrayal of good government.
“We work for the people, and we’re paid by the people,” she told the Carolina Journal earlier this week in news coverage of the bill. “These records belong to them.” (Hear, hear!)
Her bill would repeal those regrettable limits on public access to public records, echoing a coalition of news and open government groups alarmed by the rollback. Admittedly, there may be real administrative headaches to consider, and mitigate, when it comes to addressing a constant avalanche of public-records requests. But it’s 2025; surely there are ways to streamline, digitize, and achieve efficiencies without inviting the suspicion inherent in darkness.
Historically, public records have exposed scandals — think Jim Black’s corruption, redistricting abuses on both sides, and… whatever could be happening in realtime behind the curtain. Without access, how can citizens hold government accountable?
Harrison admits HB 322 faces long odds — legislative leadership, which buried transparency in the budget, isn’t likely to reverse course. While Republicans proudly join the national chorus on unmasking federal government waste and abuse, and even previously shrouded records, she is only able to cite one GOP ally on bringing transparency back to North Carolina. Webster’s Dictionary probably has a word for that.
Transparency shouldn’t be partisan. North Carolinians of all stripes deserve to know how laws are made and funds are spent. For instance, how do gargantuan $500 million line itemsmake it in the budget without debate? Might there be relevant records of such discussions?
Beyond these bills, the value of openness, both realized and potential, reverberates. State Auditor Dave Boliek’s fresh leadership and audits set a standard. His Hurricane Helene funding dashboard, updated weekly, tracks disaster relief dollars, proving real-time disclosure is possible.
Contrast this with the DMV’s woes. Grilled by the NC House Oversight Committee, Commissioner Wayne Goodwin (with plans to step down amid audit scrutiny), blamed long lines on population growth and understaffing. But excuses don’t fix a dysfunctional agency — transparency about its failures might. Why not utilize a public dashboard for DMV wait times, as Rep. Timothy Reeder, R-Pitt, asked? Accountability starts with visibility.
The General Assembly could take broader cues on transparency, too. Livestream committee meetings and archive the footage; no one should have to request a flash drive or CD-ROM, with the information technology we have at our fingertips these days. Disclose campaign contributions during sessions. Stop hiding policy shifts in omnibus budgets.
State Rep. Jake Johnson, R-Polk, who’s serves as co-chair of the House Oversight Committee, a key actor in driving transparency, raised a fair point when asked about this topic: internal transparency suffers when staff fear public exposure. But the solution isn’t less disclosure — it’s smarter systems that balance candor with function. New Republican State Treasurer Brad Briner’s push for displaying departmental metrics online shows how it’s done.
A quest for more transparency in North Carolina’s government is hardly hopeless. Boliek’s audits, Briner’s metrics, and even Goodwin’s concessions — taking “responsibility” for DMV “hiccups” — hint at progress. But hints aren’t enough. Citizens are becoming intolerant of government that keeps them in the dark, while also taking and spending their hard-earned money. SB 299 and HB 322 are litmus tests. Passing them would signal that the people’s representatives value trust over convenience, reversing a legacy of secrecy that’s left us lagging behind other states.
We cannot honor our esteemed motto while entrenching a system where power hides from scrutiny. Sunshine Week isn’t just a celebration — it’s a call to action — and North Carolinians deserve bold actions in the name of transparency.
