Editorial: Open government meetings

Friday, March 23, 2007 | 6:56 a.m.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley has introduced legislation that would force the state Tax Commission to do what it should be doing - make decisions in public.

Bending over backward to help businesses and large taxpayers, commissioners have taken a skewed view of the law to allow the commission to meet, deliberate and vote on tax refunds behind closed doors.

The issue came to light after the Las Vegas Sun reported that in May 2005 the commission gave Southern California Edison a $40 million refund in a closed session. The commission has never said why it granted the tax break. The case is before the state Supreme Court, which has yet to decide whether the commission acted appropriately.

Under the law the commission is allowed to meet in closed session to receive proprietary information from a business or person requesting a tax rebate. Commissioners believe that means they can make decisions in private and keep them that way.

Buckley's bill, Assembly Bill 433, would allow the commission to meet in private only to receive proprietary information in a tax rebate case if a person or business shows good cause to do so. In the closed session, commissioners would not be allowed to debate or make a decision. They would have to do that in the open.

The bill is expected to be approved by the Assembly but could run into trouble in the Senate, where the Tax Commission, which has taken a hard-line stance against open meetings, has some strong supporters. The commission is supposed to be the independent arbiter of tax appeals, but no one can tell if it truly is when it decides in secret and never provides a reason for its actions.

No other government body is allowed to make decisions regarding taxpayer money in private. No one would accept that of the Legislature or any city council or county commission.

Transparency is critical in government because it helps give the public a measure of trust.

If the Tax Commission continues to be hardheaded about this, the Legislature should force the commission to do its work in public by approving Buckley's bill.