Brandenton Herald by Ryan Callihan
October 2, 2019
Florida’s Sunshine Law is among the strongest in the nation when it comes to preserving access to public records and meetings among elected officials, but Manatee County’s state representatives fared poorly in one organization’s view on how they are upholding that kind of government transparency.
Every year the Florida Society of News Editors ranks state lawmakers based on how they voted on new legislation that might affect public access to records and information. They earned points for supporting transparency measures and lost points for voting against them. None of the lawmakers who represent Manatee scored any higher than a C.
Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, earned the worst grade among his local peers — an F. Based on the scoring methodology, however, Galvano’s score comes from just three bills that he voted on.