MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says he and GOP legislative leaders have agreed to completely remove a part of the proposed state budget that would severely roll back the state’s open records laws. Walker announced the decision in a joint statement Saturday with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and the co-chairs of the joint budget committee. The statement says the records proposal “will be removed from the budget in its entirety.” They say the plan “was never intended to inhibit transparent government in any way.” The restrictions, which Republicans slipped into the proposed budget late Thursday, would exempt nearly everything created by government officials from Wisconsin’s open records law. The statement says the Legislature will form a committee to study the issue and allow for public discussion.
