Barbieri pitches bill to keep legislators' communications from public

Rep. Vito Barbieri introduced legislation in Boise this morning that would exempt lawmakers’ communications from public disclosure.

The proposed bill, which has not yet been printed, is fairly restrictive, according to tweets from Boise by Kimberly Kruesi, who covers the Idaho Legislature for the Associated Press.

“Bans texts, emails, correspondence between lawmakers, constituents,” Kruesi tweeted.

Per Kruesi, the Associated Press made public record requests for emails of legislative leaders in all 50 states in 2016.

“The request was met with more denials than approvals,” Kruesi tweeted.

Barbieri, of Dalton Gardens, did not mention this bill when he appeared at town hall meetings in Kootenai County last weekend.