1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to the legislature; directing the Legislative Commission on Data Practices 
1.3 	and Personal Data Privacy to study and recommend options for expanding public 
1.4 	access to legislative records and meetings.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. EXPANDED PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEGISLATIVE RECORDS AND 
1.7 	MEETINGS; STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
 1.8 	(a) No later than December 15, 2017, the Legislative Commission on Data Practices and 
1.9 	Personal Data Privacy must study and recommend options for expanding public access to 
1.10 	legislative records and meetings. The recommendations must facilitate increased public 
1.11 	access, participation, and accountability in the legislative process, while also preserving the 
1.12 	rights and duties of the legislature and its members to function as a constitutional coequal 
1.13 	branch of government.
1.14 	(b) The study and recommendations should consider:
1.15 	(1) current laws, rules, and customs and practices of the legislature that provide public 
1.16 	access to legislative records and meetings;
1.17 	(2) the experiences of other state legislatures in providing public access to their records 
1.18 	and meetings;
1.19 	(3) the potential benefits and risks to the legislative process in expanded public access 
1.20 	to records and meetings;
1.21 	(4) the potential benefits and risks to constituents and other individual members of the 
1.22 	public in expanded access to legislative records and meetings; and
2.1 	(5) impacts on the administrative operations of the legislature in implementing any 
2.2 	recommended change, including the potential for increased costs or staffing needs.