Updates on MNCOGI legislative activity

HF 5 – Health care exchange bill.  MNCOGI testified about the bill’s data provisions, as did many others.  The House version of the bill (which passed on March 4th) had been altered to make its meeting provisions more closely conform to the Open Meeting law.  Language regarding data sharing with the federal government had also been somewhat tightened over the initial version of the bill.  The Senate version of the bill does not currently contain these modifications and improvements.

HF 20/SF 60 – Bills exempting certain personal e-mails from disclosure under the Data Practices Act.  MNCOGI offered testimony about both bills, advocating for a public classification for such e-mail data.  Neither the House or Senate has voted on either bill as of yet.

SF 385 – License Plate Reader (LPR) data classification.  MNCOGI testified at a hearing on the Senate version of the bill.  On Feb 28, amendments were offered to allow LPR data to be retained and classified as “not public” for 45 days.  The original language of the Senate bill would have required the destruction of much “non-hit” LPR data upon acquisition.  At present, the House has not heard testimony on the companion bill.