Scattering public notices on government websites makes them much harder to find, and the public has to know they need to go look for them.

Could this be the point of SB290?

The thrust of the Alabama Senate bill is this: “Under existing law, contracts for public works involving an amount in excess of $50,000 are subject to the public works competitive bid procedures.

“This bill would increase the threshold amount to $100,000 and would authorize an additional increase to the amount based on increases in the Consumer Price Index.

“This bill would authorize the use of electronic means to provide certain required notices.

So far so good. But get to page 9 of the working document, and we find this: “(a)(1) Before entering into any contract for a public works involving an amount in excess of … one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), the awarding authority shall advertise for sealed bids, except as provided in subsection (j).

“(2)a. If the awarding authority is the state, or a county, or municipality, or an instrumentality thereof, it shall advertise for sealed bids … for a minimum of three weeks prior to any submission deadline using one or more of the following methods:

1. Publication in a newspaper of general publication in the county or counties in which the work is to be done.

2. Publication on a website that is maintained by a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the work is to be done.

3. Publication on a website utilized by the awarding authority for publishing notices.”

The language of No. 3 is distressing and differs from the previous version of the bill — “at least once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the improvement, or some part thereof, is to be made” — because this bill modification represents the worst example of the fox guarding the hen house. Even though it allows three options for placing the notice, we all know which governments will choose.

This bill eliminates access for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians. People in rural Alabama — which is the vast majority of counties — have limited or no access to broadband. They still depend on the local paper for news and information on local, county and state governments, including requests for bids on projects in their area. More, limited access by eliminating newspapers from the equation doesn’t need to be that way. There are 109 newspapers in Alabama that are qualified to run public notices and every county in the state has a paid circulation newspaper qualified to run these bid notices.

Equally as distressing is that SB290 has no provisions for proof of publication to ensure notices are posted and are preserved and contained in a permanent record. There is no accountability and no transparency.

SB290 is up for advancement today, Wednesday, under the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development committee, chaired by Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Dist. 4). As it stands, Gudger and our state senators need to vote no on this bill until the language within it can be preserved to keep sealed bid notices in newspaper — protecting our right to know what our government is up to.