Schwarzenegger vetoes open records law

Media and open-government organizations in California are expressing disappointment after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill (AB 2927) that would have facilitated public records requests on the Internet and empowered the attorney general's office to mediate records disputes. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reports:

The law would have required the state attorney general to review an agency’s denial of a public record request and provide a written opinion on the validity of the denial within 20 days of being asked by the requester. Open government advocates had pushed for the measure as an alternative to costly litigation. ... The attorney general would also have been required to publish the opinions in an annual volume and to make them available on the Internet.

The California Newspaper Publishers Association was among the organizations that supported the bill.