Press Office

April 2005

April 14, 2005

The Honorable Colorado Senate
Sixty-Fifth General Assembly
First Regular Session
State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am returning Senate Bill 069, "Concerning the Publication of Salary Information of County Employees by the Board of County Commissioners,” to the Colorado Senate. I vetoed this bill as of 2:52 p.m. today and this letter sets forth my reasons for doing so.

Current statute requires the publication of county employee salary information by name, title and salary. Senate Bill 69 would allow county employee salary information to be published by title only. Such a change, however, would be contrary to the value of open government.

Government employees are accountable to the taxpayers who pay their salaries. Employees understand this responsibility when they accept a position with any government entity. Taxpayers should know who is working on their behalf.

Therefore, laws should not be passed to needlessly conceal information from the public. The names and salary information of county employees, and all other government employees, are available to the public via open records requests. Use of that information is at the pleasure of the public. Consequently, it is unclear what problem Senate Bill 69 seeks to remedy.

Senate Bill 69 unnecessarily restricts public information about county government employees. Accordingly, I have vetoed this bill.

Sincerely,

Bill Owens