We're encouraged to see that measures to improve openness in government - specifically with regard to timely public access to information - are moving through the state Legislature.

The state Senate this week passed a proposal similar to one already OK'd by the Assembly that would strengthen Freedom of Information and Open Meetings laws by making public records available to the public 72 hours before any public meeting where the items will be discussed.

Although this measure only applies to state government records, giving the public advanced notice of meeting agendas is a great step forward in government openness, and we would like to see the same thing happen at the local level.

Too many local meeting agendas simply indicate that “new business” will be discussed but offer no details, and we often hear from people who say they would have attended this or that meeting had they known what was likely to transpire.

A related measure that appears on the verge of becoming law would require state agencies to consider public access when developing information systems, allowing for the convenient retrieval of information.

As it stands now, members of the public sometimes suffer long delays in gaining access to government documents under the Freedom of Information Law. More burdensome for some is receiving electronic documents that cannot be read because the programs that created them are so specialized that the average home computer can't translate them.

It's important not only for these measures to be passed but that the final versions be more than suggestions but specifically worded laws giving the public the tools they need to read government documents they have every right to see.