Government transparency won a small battle on Wednesday when the state House postponed a final vote on legislation that would remove public notices from newspapers. The final vote was delayed because it was clear the bills couldn’t garner the votes needed to pass.

Among those who opposed the measure was state Rep. Sue Allor, R-Wolverine, who represents Northeast Michigan.

To that, we say thank you, representative, for standing up for transparency.

Currently, when a government has information to provide the public –about upcoming public hearings, ordinance changes, and the like –the government is required to post such notices in local newspapers, which not only share that information with their readers but also permanently preserve that information in their archives.

The proposed legislation would instead allow governments to post those notices on their websites.

We and other newspapers in Michigan have serious concerns about such a change. Take a look at almost any government website, and you’ll see outdated meeting minutes, old budgets, and the like, because governments don’t always stay on top of their online presence for various reasons.

We worry the same could happen with public notices, and important information could fail to get to taxpayers.

Despite this week’s decision to delay the vote, state House Speaker Lee Chatfield and other advocates of this bill seem determined to move forward and are working behind the scenes to get the votes they need.

We hope opponents, including Allor, hold strong, and government transparency is protected.

— The Alpena News