while Advocates of open government are up in arms over a proposed overhaul of the state's open public records act which some say will make an already difficult process of getting access to public information even harder while backers of the legislation contend OPRA has become burdensome on local towns and is in need of change the bills were supposed to be up for discussion today in an assembly committee but got pulled last minute just another sign of how heated the debate has become senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports they regard me as a pain in the you know what because I go after things and I publish things and I speak out John Pav's a Libertarian an open government Advocate he's that guy the one who files numerous requests under OPRA the open public records act it compels records clerks to compile data about all kinds of issues that's why path opposes a package of bills he believes would severely curtail OPRA access it's crucially important to have a functioning democracy that the citizens have to have access and the media the journalists so they can report on what the man behind the curtain is really doing a lot of government documents and systems were not designed to handle this type of the type of research that's being asked for in in for many requests Rutgers Mark Pfeiffer says OPRA's been around for more than 20 years although data has since gone digital many municipalities still struggle to Wade through a tsunami of paper records the four Bill package proposed by a Joe Danielson would enact several controversial reforms like extending deadlines from seven to ten days limiting the number of OPRA requests and banning Anonymous filings but critics exploded over a proposal to change the appeals process when OPRA requests get denied and shift the burden of attorney's fees which currently get paid by the losing side this is just an atrocity it's it's shocking that anyone would actually put it on paper and introduce it in a legislative session attorney CJ Griffin's taken journalists OPRA cases for free they convinced Superior Court judges to order access to dash cam videos police use of force reports and more and got paid when they won cases but the proposed reforms would reroute appeals to the government records Council which currently has a two-year backlog and the losers would not automatically pay attorney bills so lawyers would stop taking cases on a contingency basis Griffin says average person who just really needs a record for some reason or another or the media that can't afford to pay attorneys they won't be able to hire lawyers anymore the government records Council first of all is under staff and under resource and I don't think anyone disagrees with that what is particularly frustrating is when the courts overturn a GRC decision and then because of the mandatory attorney fees taxpayers are affording the bill you have attorney fees in these matters that charge up to 500 an hour uh and and I think sometimes what we lose sight of is that these Awards are paid for with property taxpayer dollars John Donato represents New Jersey counties he says another proposed reform would require OPRA requests to disclose commercial intent for example requesting data on licensed dog owners in order to create a potential customer list donadio says the sheer volume of data overwhelms clerks so there has to be some type of restriction on the amount of commercial requests I made that's one of our biggest points as soon as a government agency talks about the challenges they have complying with OPRA they will get rained on by the Press backlash includes a Hoboken council's resolution expressing concern over the OPRA Bill package danielson's reforms were introduced in a committee he chairs instead of the expected assembly state and local government committee but debates been postponed likely until the legislature's lame duck session when critics will brace for a fight I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News [Music] [Music]