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AP: Lawmakers Elsewhere Release Daily Calendars

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California's Legislature prohibits lawmakers from releasing their daily calendars, but legislators in many other states voluntarily open their schedules so the public can see how they spend their time and who is allowed access to them.

The legislative committees overseeing the offices of California's 120 senators and Assembly members have refused several formal requests to release lawmakers' daily calendars, citing security and privacy reasons.

The AP examined the practices in other states with full-time or nearly full-time legislatures: Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

While many freedom of information laws are silent on lawmakers' calendars, legislators in several states released electronic copies of their recent schedules after AP requested them.

Prohibiting lawmakers from releasing those documents, as California does, appears to be extremely rare.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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