Complete Colorado: Like zombies, bad legislative proposals just keep coming back to life. Two years ago I wrote the column, “The state has no business defining ‘news media.’” The idea of the bill at hand was to grant journalists special access to public records that other citizens lack.

You’ll never guess what Senator Cathy Kipp and numerous other legislators want to do this year. Yep: Grant journalists special access to public records that other citizens lack. It was a stupid and unjust proposal then, and it is a stupid and unjust proposal now. Government should not treat journalists as more equal than others.

This year’s effort, Senate Bill 77, does some other things that don’t concern me here. Ben Markus summarized the part I’m talking about: “Governments in Colorado would have longer to fulfill citizen requests for public records. . . . News media would get preferential treatment, which caused one lawmaker to vote against the measure.” Kudos to Senator Byron Pelton, the only “no” vote in committee, for recognizing the principle of equal treatment under the law. Twenty-seven senators voted to send the measure to the House.

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