PROVIDENCE — Open government advocates are expecting a bill to make 49 changes to Rhode Island’s public records law to die in committee once again as it faces opposition from Governor Daniel J. McKee’s administration.
But they are hopeful the General Assembly will pass a separate bill to provide public access to the statewide crash data that the Department of Transportation refuses to release.
Advocates also are trying to stop a bill to prevent people from requesting public records anonymously, and a bill to criminalize the release of police reports and communications between railroad employees when there’s a railroad fatality.
On Thursday evening, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the railroad fatality legislation to the Senate floor, and it heard testimony on the other bills, holding them for further study.
Senator Louis P. DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat, has been trying to overhaul the Access to Public Records Act for four years, saying it’s at the top of his Christmas list.
But on Thursday, he said, “I’m getting coal in my stocking again this year. Every year I get more disappointed than the year before. But my resolve increases. These changes are needed. If someone wants to suggest something different, bring it on.”
The public records law has not been updated in a significant way in 14 years. But his legislation would make 49 changes, including a reduction in copying costs, more free search and redaction time, and the ability to waive all fees when requests are made “in the public interest.”
DiPalma said the only new provision in this year’s bill would prevent the government from designating a record as a “draft” to circumvent the public records law. He said that proposal stems from the McKee’s administration’s refusal to release a forensic audit report, labeled “draft,” about the abrupt closure of the Washington Bridge westbound.
As in past years, the governor’s executive counsel, Claire Richards, sent legislators a letter opposing DiPalma’s bill.
She said the legislation would “intrude on the privacy of the state’s citizens, undermine criminal investigations, and lead to burdensome and overbroad requests, imposing financial burdens on public bodies that will ultimately be passed on to taxpayers.”
DiPalma said the bill will only pass if the McKee administration changes its mind or there’s a change in administration. In December, the Globe asked the candidates running for governor in 2026 where they stood on the bill.
Meanwhile, Senator Meghan E. Kallman has broken out one part of DiPalma’s bill into separate legislation that would make traffic accident data a public record, subject to federal law.
The Department of Transportation collects crash data for Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns, but it has refused to make that information public. The department argues that crash data is not a public record under state law, and that federal law prohibits “the discovery of crash data in litigation.”
Kallman, a Pawtucket Democrat, told the committee that 556 people were killed and nearly 3,000 were injured in crashes on Rhode Island roads between 2016 and 2024. “But because DOT does not grant public access to that crash data, we don’t know anything else about these tragedies,” she said.
Kallman said 42 other states make crash data available to the public, showing that the federal law is not a barrier. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and we need data like this to make better public policy about transit, pedestrian safety, and investments,” she said. “I am a research scientist, and data is the language of good policy.”
Dylan Giles, the Providence Streets Coalition operations manager, wrote to legislators, noting Massachusetts maintains a data portal so members of the public can see where crashes are occurring and push for improvements.
“When government hides information like crash data from the public, it’s not just advocates and journalists that suffer,” Giles wrote. “It’s every Rhode Islander who walks, bikes, drives, or relies on public transportation or emergency services. It’s every family seeking answers after a tragedy. It’s every voter trying to hold public institutions accountable.”
Senator Todd Patalano, a Cranston Democrat, introduced a bill to ban anonymous public records requests. He said the proposal stems from “concerns regarding the increasing operational burden placed on municipalities and public agencies from excessive, repetitive, and at times questionable records requests that can overwhelm already limited administrative resources.”
He said he sees such requests as a major in the Cranston Police Department.
“We certainly understand the importance of transparency and recognize there may be circumstances where individuals prefer anonymity,” Patalano said in a statement. “However, public agencies also have a responsibility to maintain orderly and functional operations and to ensure that limited taxpayer-funded resources are not consumed by misuse of the process.”
The Whistleblowers’ Protection Act protects against retaliation for disclosure of misconduct, waste, fraud, or abuse, Patalano said. “Requiring identification does not mean agencies may retaliate against a requester,” he said.
Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, wrote to legislators, opposing that bill.
“A public record is a public record, and it simply should not, and does not, matter who is requesting documents in order for the recordkeeper to determine whether they should be released,” Brown wrote. “If records are to be denied, it must be because they are exempt from disclosure under APRA, not because the records custodian doesn’t like the motivation of the person requesting them.”
Rhode Island law has long allowed anonymous public records requests for good reasons, Brown said, citing examples such as “a public employee seeking to shed light on a questionable practice of their employer,” or “a person fearing retaliation from public officials in their community for seeking information.”
DiPalma said he opposes Patalano’s bill. “Nothing against my colleague, but people need to be able to ask for a record without the concern of potential retaliation,” he said.
Senator Jake Bissaillon, a Providence Democrat, has introduced legislation that would make it a misdemeanor to allow public access to police reports involving a railroad fatality, and all communications between railroad employees involving a railroad fatality.
Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, said his organization is advocating for that legislation because of incidents, including one in Massachusetts, in which a person committed suicide by jumping in front of a train and the driver of the train ended up being harassed by the victim’s friends and family, after the driver’s name was in a police report.
Bissaillon said that under the bill, law enforcement and others authorized by judicial orders would still have access to police reports about railroad fatalities. “I think it strikes the proper balance,” he said.
But John M. Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said such incidents are “unfortunate,” but the bill “overreaches to make it criminal to release records” that could prove crucial in different circumstances. For example, he said such records would have been relevant if the recent collapse of parts of an Interstate 95 ramp over Amtrak railroad tracks in Cranston has resulted in a death.
“As tragic as what happened to motivate the legislation is, it sets a bad precedent for making it criminal to reveal records that are really important to accountability,” Marion said.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.