Rep. Chatfield said this proposal is similar to the legislation introduced last session. Last year, Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof shut down the bill because it didn't include an exception to correspondence received from a lawmaker's constituents.
That remains a major sticking point for this year's version of the legislation. The definition of a "constituent" is up for interpretation and could create a sizable loophole.
For example, if a legislator’s "constituent" is a huge donor and correspondence between the two included discussions of favors or a type of pay for play, that could be something that the public might be interested in.