Editorial: Internet no substitute

Thursday, April 7, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

Two bills working their way through the state Assembly make the assumption that all voters and taxpayers have ready access to the Internet. Assembly Bill 136, which primarily clarifies how election expenses are shared among the state and local governments, was amended to change the manner of informing people about proposed constitutional amendments. Currently, state law requires that the full text of the proposed amendments be published in newspapers. The amendment would eliminate that requirement in favor of the secretary of state putting the wording on his Web site.

And Assembly Bill 478 would open the door for publishing legal notices, including the annual tax rolls, only on the Internet. The law now requires that they be published in newspapers. The tax rolls allow property owners to compare their taxes with their neighbors' and other equally valued properties, to ensure fairness.

It may sound self-serving for a newspaper, which receives revenue from publishing such legal notices, to oppose a switch to the Internet. But the fact is that government should, if anything, work toward increasing the public's knowledge of such important information, not toward decreasing it. A large number of people do not have Internet access, and therefore would not be able to read the legal notices.

We're of the view that until such time as the government is willing to provide every citizen with in-home Internet access, it should continue with the widest possible distribution of this information, which newspapers are in a unique position to provide.