Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/118241
Page 4 March 28, 2013 You have right to know special interests H ello, my name is Steve, and I'm a lobbyist (also a lawyer and a former journalist). The Hoosier State Press Association's report to the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission for 2012 shows expenditures of $25,374. Meal costs for our annual legislative luncheon, where state senators and representatives are invited to spend an hour with Indiana newspaper publishers attending our annual meeting, accounts for $2,680 of that total. Most of the rest goes to salary expense allocated to our lobbying efforts for two legislative assistants (law school students) and myself. I make these disclosures because I want to talk about the legislative process. Readers can determine whether my motives are clouded by my involvement in the process. Why now? The Indianapolis Star columnist Matt Tully recently wrote about conflicts of interest that arise with Indiana's part-time legislature. His column, as have similar stories by reporters around the state in past years, has stirred reactions from legislators and lobbyists in the Statehouse. While I may not agree with all inferences made in stories critical of the state's legislative process, I'll always defend the right of the press to raise questions. In the latest example, I think it's good to ask whether conflicts of interest merit closer monitoring to assure the public that the process isn't skewed to special interests to the detriment of good public policy. Personally, I favor a citizen legislature. I prefer legislators who depend on other means to make a living rather than the professional legislators in some states. I think the chances are greater that a part-time legislator will be more concerned with public policy questions than re-election issues. Part-time legislators can come with baggage in the form of conflicts of interest, but expertise in a field isn't necessarily a bad thing for lawmakers. Key Points By Steve Key It makes sense that someone with an insurance background is assigned to a committee dealing with insurance matters because he or she will better understand how legislative sessions may create unintended consequences for both ratepayers and insurers. Based on election campaigns, where "career politicians" are attacked for not representing voters, Hoosiers apparently want representatives who can identify with them, someone who shares their concerns as an entrepreneur, employee, parent, retiree, etc. I don't ignore problems that conflicts of interest create. The system isn't perfect, and state Senate and House leadership should strive to monitor legislator actions and draw clear lines so Hoosiers HSPA Hotline The following questions came from the Kokomo Herald and News-Times (Hartford City) The city Board of Works conducted an executive session to discuss a personnel issue. Immediately following the executive session, the board had an open meeting, where members voted to take no action for the alleged employee misconduct. Does the board have to reveal who the employee was? Otherwise it would fail to meet requirements under the Open Door Law. But assuming the notice was correct and that the executive session was for receiving information about alleged misconduct of an employee – [See IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(6)] – the Board of Works would have had a legal basis for the executive session. At this session members could have listened to the evidence and determined whether action was warranted. The policy rationale is to allow a governing body to hear about allegations in private to protect the reputation of the employee in the event that the allegation is unsubstantiated. The General Assembly didn't want to create a situation where a government entity has to publicly acknowledge that a teacher, for example, has been accused of having an improper relationship with a student, having the story run on the front page of the local newspaper, and then determining that there was nothing to it. The damage to the teacher's reputation would have already occurred. With this policy in mind, the Board of Works would be within the scope of the Open Door Law to vote (take a final action) in the open meeting to declare that no disciplinary action was warranted without revealing who had been investigated. If they voted to take a disciplinary action, I would argue that the name of the individual who is to be punished should be included. Citizens have a right to know about misconduct of public employees and the punishment delivered so they can determine whether the level of punishment was too severe, appropriate for the misdeed, or overly harsh. I hope the initial notice of the executive session was more specific than "personnel issue." Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@ hspa.com or (317) 624-4427. Q I need some information on publishing sheriff's sale notices. What are the criteria for a newspaper to be able to publish the sales? Legally, what information can a sheriff use regarding where to publish? A Eligibility to carry sheriff's sale notices (mortgage foreclosures) is the same as other public notice advertisements. Newspapers must be at least 50 percent paid circulation, be in existence in the same city or town for at least three years, publish at least once a week, and operate with a periodicals mail permit from the U.S. Postal Service. A couple of things are different about sheriff's sale notices, however. The sheriff has to place the notice in only one newspaper, even if two would qualify in the same county. Since the buyer is responsible for payment – the sheriff collects the publication cost from the winning bidder after a sale – the newspaper can charge a rate it determines, rather than the stateset public notice advertising rate. So the sheriff's decision could be based on a variety of factors: price, customer service, geography, circulation, friendship with the publisher, anger over past coverage, etc. Q A are confident that good public policy, not special interests, win the day. It's in the General Assembly's best interest that potential conflicts of interest are transparent to the public. Are reporting requirements, either for lobbyists or legislators, strong enough to indicate a relationship that should concern voters? Should leadership draw a line that would preclude a legislator from carrying a bill if the outcome is tied too directly to that legislator's own financial or professional interests? At one time, HSPA purposely avoided asking thenIndianapolis Recorder publisher and state Rep. Carolene Mays from carrying legislation the association was pushing. The same goes now with state Sen. Phil Boots, who has ownership stake in newspapers in Crawfordsville and Noblesville. That doesn't mean we wouldn't urge Boots to argue our point in a Republican Senate caucus on a particular bill of interest, just as we would other legislators that we identify as friends of pub- Washington Continued from Page 1 continue to be delivered by independent contractors. We think we made a difference in Washington. The day started at the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, Va., where National Newspaper Association organizers prepared us for our afternoon on Capitol Hill. "We want reliable, timely service; rates low; to have a fair advertising marketplace; and six-day mail delivery," Rush said. The Postal Service interprets a congressional mandate in a way that allows them to change the number of delivery days without Congress' approval. The U.S. Senate on March 20 approved a spending bill that maintains the sixday mail provision. The U.S. House of Representatives followed suit on March 21. At press time, however, some lawmakers had implied that plans to cut Saturday service could proceed. Concerning the service agreement with Valassis, the National Newspaper Association filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in early March arguing that the Postal Regulatory Commission failed to follow federal law in approving the historic postage discount for the directmail company. We also heard from the Postal Service: Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe; Inspector General David C. Williams; David E. Williams, vice president for network operations; and Tom Foti, manager for direct mail and periodicals. Donahoe said that while retiree healthcare cost is an issue, "the (financial) issue is the decrease in mail." Since 2007, first-class mail has decreased 37 percent, Donahoe said. "That mail is not coming back," he said. "This is not a manufactured crisis." Donahoe said the Postal Service is looking for new ways to put itself on firm financial footing so it can continue to operate. Thus, the announced end of Saturday delivery, except packages, which remains profitable, he said. The inspector general praised periodicals. Generous postal policies were a reason the press became so powerful, he said. lic access or the newspaper industry. That's lobbying. Should leadership discourage committee members or chairmen from soliciting campaign contributions from those who will be directly impacted by that committee's work? It would avoid a pay-to-play perception. I recall a story from a lobbyist with the Illinois legislature. He recounted that when a lobbyist called on a certain legislator, the administrative assistant would check a list of contributors. If you weren't on the list, you didn't get an audience with the legislator. I've never heard that story applied to a Hoosier legislator in the 21 legislative sessions I've worked. Given the choice, I favor a part-time legislature with the transparency needed to assure Hoosiers that conflicts of interest have been identified and have proper counterbalances to protect citizens. Steve Key is executive director and general counsel for HSPA. "The Postal Act of 1792 did more than the First Amendment toward the flourishing of the press ... (and) the flowering of democracy," he said. "The press and the post office have a special relationship. ... Periodicals are the reason people go to their mail box." And later he said, "The Fourth Estate may be more important at this stage than the other three. ... We need to support you in any way we can." Network Operations Vice President Williams said first-class mail pays a significant part of the Postal Service's fixed costs. It takes three times the number of standard mail pieces to equal the contributions from one first-class piece, he said. And the overnight delivery constraints will soon go away from the blue collection boxes, further delaying delivery by one day or more. When asked about the new intelligent mail bar codes, he said, "It's a big chalenge l to get those scanned on our equipment." Then we were off to the Hill. We met with staffers for Sen. Dan Coats (R); Sen. Joe Donnelly (D); Rep. Susan Brooks (R-5th District), who was speaking on the House floor; Rep. Luke Messer (R-6th District), who came out of his office to shake our hands; and Freshman Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-2nd District). Donnelly's staffer gave us the impression he did not support a reduction in mail delivery days. The others did for financial reasons. Everyone said they had not heard much reaction from their constituents about the announced change. Details of the Valassis negotiated service agreement were news to all but Donnelly's staffer, and all agreed to follow up to learn more about it. The day ended with dinner at the National Press Club. Ken Paulson, president and CEO of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, gave the keynote address. Our time in the capital was short. And while we were new to the lobbying game, we think we got our points across and made some friends along the way. Sarah O. Wilson is owner and publisher of the Rochester Sentinel. Randall Shields is vice president for HNE Printing and former publisher of the Greenfield Reporter.