A war for accountability

Two bad public notice bills mark beginning of session

ANALYSIS By MIKE HODGES and DONNIS BAGGETT
Texas Press Association

Two dangerous public notice bills were among the first measures filed for the upcoming Texas legislative session. Unfortunately, they won’t be the last. Others are certain to follow in the weeks ahead.
The bills by Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, and Rep. Ernest Bailes, R-Shepherd, plopped into the House of Representatives’ inbox on Nov. 14, the first day of bill filing. Texts of both bills are on Page 3 of this month’s Messenger. In a nutshell, both bills would gut public notices in Texas newspapers.
Laws requiring public notices were passed long ago to make citizens aware of government actions and intent — to tell you how high your taxes are going to be, what your elected officials plan to do for you and to you, and just how much of your hard-earned money they’ll spend doing it.
It’s the kind of information that makes politicians uncomfortable. It’s also information that’s essential for citizens to engage intelligently in our two-century-old experiment in self government. That’s why our laws require notices to be published in general circulation newspapers for all the world to see. If the Shaheen and Bailes bills pass you’ll have to scour websites, social media and “alternative media” to find this critical information. That will be a daunting task for the average citizen, even someone who knows what to look for. 
Texas’ newspapers have been the trusted guardians and the very public purveyors of this important information for almost two centuries. If bills like HB 622 and HB 657 pass, public notices will effectively disappear and the fox will finally get to guard the henhouse. That’s exactly what happened in Florida earlier this year, and it could happen in Texas as well.
Until the Legislature adjourns on Memorial Day, your Texas Press Association will again be on the front lines of the war to preserve public notices in newspapers. We’ll hear the same arguments we’ve heard before: “Newspapers are yesterday’s news. Nobody reads newspapers anymore. Newspapers are too expensive. Governments could save money and patch more potholes by posting notice on their own websites instead of subdizing a dying industry.” And so on.
We’ll mount a vigorous and thorough defense, of course, and we have solid arguments to counter our critics. The first and the best argument is that newspaper notices work. Period.
You can see a list of our talking points on Page 6 of this edition. We’ll make those arguments passionately and tirelessly, and we ask you to clip and save them for your own use. Put bluntly, we need your help in this existential fight for Texas newspapers.
We want every state representative and state senator to hear their hometown publisher’s opinion on public notices. Specifically, they need to hear you say loud and clear that eliminating newspaper notice in favor of government websites, social media and “alternative media”  is an unbelievably dangerous idea that’s toxic to government accountability.
We also need you to share your opinion with the general public. In today’s Messenger we showcase fine examples penned by two excellent community journalists — a column by Mary Judson of the Port Aransas South Jetty and testimony by Ned Seaton of the Manhattan Mercury in Kansas. We hope you’ll add your voice to theirs and make your readers aware of the ongoing war for accountability.
The outcome of politics always comes down to relationships. We ask that you leverage your relationships with your legislators to keep public notices in your newspaper. Start now, because if you wait until after the holidays you’ll be competing for their attention with every lobbyist in Austin.
We appreciate all you do for your community and for our state. Please let us know what you hear. Thank you and God bless Texas.