Officials in both Missouri and Kansas are pushing for exemptions under state sunshine laws that would restrict public access to information. Both measures would counter recent efforts in the states to improve access laws. A recent recommendation by the Missouri Homeland Security Advisor would create a new exemption under the state sunshine law that mirrors federal Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) provisions. The recommendation, being considered by the joint legislative committee on terrorism and homeland security, would allow state officials to collect infrastructure information for entities such as nuclear power plants, but would exempt the information from public disclosure. This would prevent the public from identifying security problems in their communities in order to make them safer. This counters legislation introduced in November by State Rep. Jeff Harris (D-Columbia) and a number of other legislators that would significantly improve access to government information. The legislation, supported by the Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, would include upgrades to allow public access to email correspondence between public officials, prohibit voting on public business without a public meeting, respond to FOIA requests via email, and require public meeting notices for internet meetings. Kansas open meetings legislation may face an amendment that would prohibit the public from attending meetings. City officials in Overland Park believe that the law’s current 49 exemptions allow for some private meetings about homeland security, but they would like to close all meetings that discuss the preparation or prevention of acts of terror. It is unclear how “terror” is defined. Under this approach the public would be uninformed about their communities’ plans for dealing with possible terrorist threats. Groups, such as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, expressed concern over such an exemption saying the government is simply protecting itself from revealing its vulnerabilities to the public. As reported in the last Watcher, Kansas state legislators recently began reviewing the over 360 exemptions under the Kansas Open Records Act; all of which set to expire in 2005. The lengthy process aims to improve public access to information by weeding out unnecessary exemptions and only reinstating appropriate restrictions.