The Senate voted Monday to eliminate what Minority Leader Andy McElhany calls an open-records tax.
On a vote of 32-2, the chamber passed a bill that would reduce from $1.25 to 25 cents the maximum amount governments can charge people per page for copies of documents requested under the state’s open-records law.
“Right now, we’ve got the highest copying charges in the country,” said McElhany, a Colorado Springs Republican.
McElhany said the bill will save the public, including the news media, almost $750,000 each year.
“Some of the court clerks complained that this was going to reduce revenues, but this is not supposed to generate a profit. That’s why we call it a public-records tax,” he said.
McElhany says prices per copy of records requested by the public vary widely along the Front Range, casting doubt on whether the fee represents a real cost.
His bill limits the charge to no more than 25 cents per page.
The measure also allows government officials to charge a research and retrieval fee, but only at actual cost.
The bill now goes to the House, where it is being sponsored by Democrat Anne McGihon of Denver.
