Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper yesterday vetoed a bill that would have substantially reduced a category of newspaper notice in the state beginning in 2022.
Senate Bill 156 would have allowed counties to publish salary reports, financial statements and monthly expense reports on their own websites in lieu of newspapers. The legislation would still have required counties to publish newspaper notices providing a website address for each report.
Maine’s Governor Vetoes Another Public Notice Bill
As we noted last month, Maine Gov. Paul LePage doesn’t like the newspapers in his state. There’s now evidence to suggest his disgust for print-based local journalism provokes him to stake out irrational positions on public notice bills.
In April, LePage vetoed a bill requiring newspapers to continue posting public notices on their own websites at no extra cost to the state. The veto was counterintuitive but it had an internal logic. LePage doesn’t believe in half measures. He is convinced that newspapers are dying but he’s an impatient man, so he wants to do all he can to hasten their demise.