House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) said in a statement released late Friday afternoon he wants Tennessee’s state and local governments to make more public records available online for the sake of what he called “greater government transparency.” The statement released by his office continued: I am calling on both state departments and local governments to evaluate all records that may be placed online and to explore ways to increase availability,” said Leader Lamberth. “Republicans in the legislature stand for more transparency for our citizens,” said Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada (R-Franklin). “I am fully supportive of Leader Lamberth’s efforts, and I appreciate his desire to lead on this issue.” Lamberth is currently working with all interested parties and constituents on an amendment to House Bill 626 in efforts to streamline the process of open records requests, protect record custodians, increase online accessibility, and to enhance government transparency. “In this day and age with all of our technology, we should be able to fulfill open records requests online,” added Lamberth. Some people who were angry with him Friday morning might never have guessed he’d say such a thing later in the day. After all, these were the same folks who took to social media…
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