Exclusionary and ineffective: The current state of open government

Observations by VCOG's 2025 Chip Woodrum Legislative Intern, Peggy Stansbery

The Virginia General Assembly appears to be committed to open government, providing citizens access to meetings, spaces, people and information, but these actions aren’t enough. Behind the box they check, they still perpetuate exclusionary government practices.

I've been the Chip Woodrum Legislative Intern for the Virginia Coalition of Open Government since January, where I’ve had the opportunity to learn about the Virginia legislative process through shadowing its executive director and attending the Virginia General Assembly. The experience has allowed me to learn and observe open government policies and practices in Virginia, and motivate myself to apply a critical lens to them.

The first day I walked through the heavy, large brown doors of the General Assembly Building on Broad Street, I felt thankful to be in the bright and grand building with the opportunity to meet with legislators and watch them debate bills, having the government’s inner workings unveiled and shared with me.

However, I quickly began to ask myself: Why am I so thankful for the bare minimum of government openness, which ensures the basic functioning of its democracy? What I came to realize is I felt so grateful because my experience at the General Assembly greatly varied from my average experience with open government practices.

Here, the government’s processes were literally and clearly right in front of me. I sat in on meetings — sitting only feet away from my representatives — shared an elevator with legislators, met face-to-face with representatives and watched ordinary people testify in front of their legislators.

In the past, when seeking government information either as a reporter, a student or an ordinary person, I would find myself scouring the internet; the information feeling disconnected and confusing as it’s tucked away on hard-to-access and navigate websites. And for the average person who doesn’t attend in-person government meetings, government information always feels like that: detached and certainly not open and accessible.

For instance, I needed to find information about Richmond’s housing and development plans for an article I was writing. I found documents of hundreds of pages laying out those plans, but which still managed to feel vague. For example, it said the city wanted to increase development, but didn’t mention how they are exactly going to do that. When I tried to call or email to get clarification, I got put through to someone who never picked up or no one ever responded to me. I had the information provided to me, thankfully, but not in a way which helped. I was left feeling frustrated and more confused.

Perhaps more frustrating is the antiquated and uncommon processes, systems and languages of the government’s meetings and documents. Even when you get your hands on the documents or attend a meeting or the General Assembly, what is being said or done isn’t always clear for someone not well versed in government procedures or legal language.

The language is dense and filled with niche terms and political jargon, such as “pass by indefinitely” and “motion to recommit,” or the document is page and pages long written in thick legal speech.

Then there are great government information websites, such as the Legislative Information System, but people need to understand the basic workings of the General Assembly to know how to successfully use it. They need to know what “standing committees” and “floor calendars” are and understand how to read bills. I also wouldn’t call its existence, or other great websites sharing government information such as VPAP, common knowledge.

I thankfully attended my first General Assembly meetings with the Virginia Coalition of Open Government’s executive director, who is very well versed in legislative processes and could explain everything. Even then, in consequential meetings, I found myself forgetting some of the vocabulary she defined for me the week before and asking myself, “Now what are they exactly voting on? To move this bill to the finance committee or if they want to pass it?”

Most citizens don’t have the opportunity to attend the General Assembly alongside someone well-versed in legislative language, so I can imagine many people feel confused about what is exactly going on when legislators say terms like “concurrent resolution,” “en bloc” or “the recommendation that we reject the house substitute,” or speak to each other like this: “For what purpose does the delegate from Petersburg rise…I rise to ask whether the delegate from Norfolk will yield for a question… Does the delegate from Norfolk yield?... I yield…The delegate from Petersburg has the floor.”

If the Virginia government was truly committed to open government, it wouldn’t, whether by accident or not, hide its “open” information behind confusing terms and procedures. I understand it may be too much work and complication to overhaul the government’s proceedings and documents into everyday language, or the language may play an important role in ensuring meetings are run efficiently. If that is the case, then other solutions need to be proposed to ensure the government is truly open and for the people.

For one, every school across Virginia could teach its students how to read government documents, find reliable government information online and follow government meetings. Right now, optional government electives or one or two Civics courses isn’t enough. I vaguely remember what I learned in my one year of AP Government, but if I had a class like that yearly, I’m sure that information would become second nature to me. Preparing citizens to be government literate needs to be a routine yearly commitment in schools, which would better foster true open government.

Outside of the school system, since many, like myself, weren’t educated K-12 in Virginia but now reside here, there should also be free and accessible educational opportunities for people to learn. For example, there could be an easy to find and navigate informational website with “Khan Academy” style lessons and in-person courses people can take throughout the state.

There also needs to be someone available to assist people and answer their questions regarding government information when they aren’t in person at the General Assembly or government meetings. This means government officials who reliably answer emails and phone calls to answer questions.

There are many solutions to this problem, they just take effort but are worthwhile if Virginia truly wants to be committed to open government.

True openness means accessibility, directness and unrestricted, which requires clear and easy access to information. Either the government needs to fix how it presents information or properly educate its citizens on how to find and understand it because right now, the government’s “open government” is exclusionary with alienating and intimidating language and procedures, which makes it fail at its primary motive and purpose.

The information can’t just be there for Virginia to consider itself an “open government”; it needs to be easily accessible and understood by its citizens.