Fort Collins Coloradoan: What started as talks of making digital government records available under the Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA, has turned into a full-fledged discussion of reforming the law and how it works.

Sen. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, said parallel efforts have emerged from working groups organized to look at updating the law for the digital age. One is an open data proposal, which would mandate certain public information be automatically posted online. Another pitch involves the creation of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, such as a mediation board, to allow for appeals of CORA denials.

Currently, if a CORA is denied by a public entity, that leaves the requesting party the option of a lawsuit or giving up.

“Even the ethics watch types and the government types don’t think that’s the most productive way to go about that,” Kefalas said at his Saturday morning community forum.

Both of the new proposals are still early on in the discussion phase, with many details to work out.

Kefalas spearheaded the law reform last legislative session after the Coloradoan was denied access to a digital version of a Colorado State University database ofemployee names and salaries. The newspaper instead needed to recreate the 147-page printout of salary information that’s kept at the CSU library.

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