Republican again tries to make state laws clearer

ATLANTA --- Jill Chambers says she never aspired to be a champion of government openness, but getting the runaround from one too many agency bureaucrats changed her mind.

The Atlanta Republican's annoyance with government had already led the former optician to run for the House over the taxes on her husband's business. But it was when a local public airport wasn't as forthcoming as she wanted that she vowed to make some changes in the law.

So this week she's introducing a bill to rewrite sections of Georgia law dealing with openness to try to make the law clearer.

"I've dealt personally with the challenges of vague language," she said. "If we can clean that up, hopefully we'll have fewer cases of people inadvertently violating the law because it's so vague."

When Republicans took control of the House, Ms. Chambers was made chairwoman of the committee that oversees Atlanta's MARTA rapid-transit system because no one else wanted it. She pored through all the files she could get her hands on, and, with the advice of her neighbor and a reporter who had both been investigative accountants, she used her authority to demand reports in a format that highlighted waste.

Her success turning up problems in MARTA led House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ben Harbin, R-Evans, to ask her to dig through state spending. Last year she introduced a bill that would require of state agencies the kind of reports she had demanded of MARTA.

Gov. Sonny Perdue vetoed the measure, arguing it would be expensive and duplicate existing reports.

Hers was one of the 12 vetoes the House overrode on the first day of this year's session. The measure is now sitting in the Senate Rules Committee, where it could be sent for an override by that chamber, but she figures it will die there and has decided to simply reintroduce the bill in coming days.

"If there's any tax money involved in it, that should be open, in my estimation," she said.

Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, has had his own difficulty getting government files. As chairman of a special committee looking into the cost of defending courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols, Mr. Fleming, a member of the House leadership, was repeatedly rebuffed when seeking spending records.

"I've always been a proponent of the Open Records Act, but we always have to strike a balance between openness and privacy," he said, recalling cases where child molesters got photos of children signing up for recreational sports.

"I think she's trying to strike that balance," he said of Ms. Chambers' efforts.