Freedom of Information Conference

Banking scandal led to state law opening records

'73 Legislature, under new leaders, forged bills changing reporting of campaign finances, income

By Cynthia Agnew

Austin, Texas-April 29, 2003-Thirty years after a bribery scandal forced the Texas Legislature to pass the original Texas Open Records Act, journalists still are fighting to expand access to public information.

Wanda Cash, editor and publisher of The Baytown Sun and president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said the organization’s mission is to provide leadership to ensure public business is conducted openly to protect American liberties.

In March the foundation and the University of Texas School of Journalism cosponsored a symposium on open records in Texas.

“Our purpose is to protect and preserve the free exchange of information afforded by the First Amendment through programs and services to citizens in our democracy,” Cash said at the conference.

The foundation protects the right to access public information by educating the public on the procedures to gain access to government records.

The 1971 Sharpstown scandal in Texas involved federal prosecutors bringing bribery charges against state officials, and led to creation of the state’s open-meetings and open-records acts. A dozen state and former state officials were accused of taking stock from Houston banker Frank Sharp to influence state bank-deposit insurance legislation that would benefit his bank.

Former Democratic Sen. Don Adams of Jasper, now a lobbyist, recalled that voters in 1972 defeated almost half the incumbents in both the state Senate and House of Representatives.

“There were no serious rules about open government, but that all changed,” Adams said.

The Sharpstown scandal focused public attention on the Legislature, Adams said.

“The scandal got the mind and heart of the Legislature right and Bill Hobby (who was elected Texas’ lieutenant governor in 1972) was the engine that drove the hearts,” Adams said. “He understood the importance of the First Amendment and openness of the government.”

Sharpstown’s effect on Texas politics climaxed when the 1973 Legislature, headed by new leaders, passed a series of far-reaching reform laws that required state officials to disclose their income sources and made candidates reveal details about their campaign finances.

The legislature also opened most government records to the public and required open meetings of policy-making agencies.