Raleigh – In a time when the usual defenders of freedom of speech, press freedom, and open government rights have fewer resources to wage public policy battles for first principles, one state senator stands out. Senator Norm Sanderson (R-Arapahoe), now in his fifth term, is reintroducing his Government Transparency Act.
This measure takes a modest step toward allowing public access to government employee disciplinary records at both the state and local levels. Against the backdrop of national “Sunshine Week,” Sanderson’s bill aims to elevate North Carolina from the bottom five open government states to a more favorable position.
Should the Government Transparency Act (GTA) become law, it would provide North Carolinians with first-time access to:
– On-the-job performance records of state and local government employees (excluding medical records); and
– Reasons—though only a “general description”—for why a state or local government employee or law enforcement officer has been demoted, suspended with or without pay, transferred, or fired.
Currently, 45 states allow public access to this extent of a government employee’s disciplinary record. The leading open government states offer even more—access to the entire file (except medical records). In Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and South Carolina, parents can request to see a public school teacher’s file, including performance records. In New York, then-Governor Cuomo secured the passage of a bill allowing first-time access to public school teacher performance records, despite objections from the state teachers’ union. Cuomo argued that public access to performance records was essential for instilling public confidence in the awarding of merit pay to public school teachers—hardly a stretch.
In the vast majority of states that permit such access, there has not been a single negative effect on the operation of state and local government. Yet North Carolina has never allowed its citizens to view any of these records!
It is no wonder that former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper sponsored and filed a bill to allow this kind of access more than 25 years ago when he was a young state senator. His bill passed the North Carolina Senate but died in the House of Representatives. Senate President Phil Berger led a similar effort—and crafted the language in Senator Sanderson’s bill—at the end of the 2010 session of the NC General Assembly. Senator Berger came close to having the bill passed, only to see its core access features halted by the NC State Employees’ Association (SEANC) on the House floor. SEANC continues to oppose the legislation.
Isn’t it high time—in 2025—for the North Carolina General Assembly to pass Senator Sanderson’s bill and grant the public access to the disciplinary records of their government employees’ performance that they deserve? Senator Sanderson’s bill received support from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association and a lone NC Senate Democrat, Graig Meyer of Orange County, in the last legislative session. This support reflects that Sanderson’s bill has backing beyond just the media industry. The North Carolina Senate passed the bill, though it was not considered by the House.
The bottom line is that bringing North Carolina into the top tier of right-to-know states is long overdue. So contact your state legislators this Sunshine Week and urge them to vote for the Government Transparency Act. North Carolinians deserve nothing less.
Editor’s Note: John Bussian is Legislative Counsel to the NC Press Association.