A Devastating Blow to Government Accountability in NC | Opinion

By Brooks Fuller, The Charlotte Observer, September 26, 2023

North Carolina’s Republican legislative majority, joined by a handful of Democrats, has decided that the state’s public records law shouldn’t apply to them. A supermajority of the General Assembly passed a sweeping legislative privilege Friday allowing lawmakers to keep secret any document made or received during their public service “in all instances.” The move came during the final days of grueling, months-long budget negotiations. In a devastating blow to public access, lawmakers wiped out one of North Carolinians’ primary tools for government accountability and gave themselves permission to operate almost entirely in the dark.

Shielding legislative documents from public view does not itself cause corruption, but it creates a perfect environment for it to incubate. Without the legal duty to provide records made or received during their public service, lawmakers have little incentive to prioritize public accountability. They have every incentive to padlock records they prefer not to share.