Republican lawmakers bar journalists from statehouse floors

By SAM METZ
Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s state Senate passed rules this week limiting where the press can go to report in statehouses, marking the latest move by Republican state lawmakers nationwide who are peeling back access to chambers after the pandemic provided new accessibility. Rules governing where journalists can work vary across the nation’s 50 statehouses. But in states such as Utah, Kansas and Iowa, reporters who have been accustomed to reporting from the floor of legislative chambers are being restricted to public galleries. Lawmakers argue that creating formal rules brings needed clarity and allays security concerns. Newspaper executives and press advocates have opposed the changes, arguing they inhibit accountability reporting and limit transparency.