Let’s begin with a simple question: When is the last time you visited your municipal government’s website?

Or, perhaps, a question to precede that: What is the url address of your municipal government’s website?

Like many people in Cullman County, we’re assuming that the answer to the first question is something like … never; while the answer to the second is along the lines of … hmmm, I don’t know.

Yet, legislation before Alabama lawmakers this week, HB106, assumes that 1. You not only know your municipal government’s website but that, 2. You visit it quite frequently.

Indeed if our state lawmakers were to advance HB106, labeled “Fiscal Note,” out of its current resting place in the County and Municipal Committee, these are the exact assumptions they must make for the bill to be successful.

Unless … the intent of the legislation isn’t true governmental transparency, but solely for monetary purposes.

HB106 would allow government agencies the ability to publish certain legal notices on governmental websites — and no where else. Not, for example, in your local print and online newspaper — which you likely get in your mailbox or visit often online. And not on an independent statewide website, currently maintained constantly by more than 100 newspapers across Alabama at no cost to you, the reader.

Every week, 109 newspapers deliver printed copies of the newspaper to homes across Alabama, with a presence in all 67 counties.

Every notice printed in a newspaper is already uploaded to an independent, statewide website (AlabamaPublicNotices.com) and to the newspapers’ websites. The public has free access to both. We have a system in place that provides maximum access to public notices. Both online and in print.

This is important for several reasons.

Newspapers are reliable. A notice appearing in a newspaper is permanent. It cannot be changed or altered. A printed newspaper cannot be hacked, where critical information could be added to or deleted.

There are literally billions of websites. The public is far less likely to search for notices on a government website than go to their local paper, where they are accustomed to finding notices. And less likely amounts to less access, and less access means less transparency and accountability.

There is no argument that simply, this is access-restrictive legislation.

In many cases, those most affected will be seniors, rural Alabama and the less affluent.

This bill eliminates access for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians. People in rural Alabama — which is the vast majority of counties, including Cullman — have limited or no access to broadband. Even in areas where there is availability, internet fees make it financially beyond the reach of many. Many of us still depend on the local paper for news and information on local, county and state governments.

But finally, we ask another question: should government entities ever be in charge of posting their own notices? No. Requiring independent, third-party newspapers, newspaper websites and alabamapublicnotices.com ensure that public notices run in accordance with the law. The fox should never be guarding the hen house.

Newspapers shine a light and offer transparency, trust and integrity to keep readers informed.

So, at the end of the day, what is the intent of HB106? That answer is easy — a money grab at at the cost of governmental transparency. In fact, the summary of the bill from our lawmakers, says as much, in simple language: “House Bill 106 as introduced could decrease expenditures of county and municipal governments by an undetermined amount dependent on the advertising costs otherwise incurred to publish certain legal notices in a newspaper. This bill would not directly affect state funding.”

Of course, it’s possible that you didn’t see that summary, which fails to mention the word “transparency,” before now — that is, before you saw it in your local newspaper.

To which our legislators might likely say, “Shame on you. After all, it was clearly available for you to view — on a governmental website.”