Commentator Andrew Cooperrider has described this bill well, saying:

On the first day of the legislative session, Rep. Burke decided to file a bill designed to shield legislators from public accountability.

House Bill 12 would let lawmakers and their immediate family members demand that government agencies scrub “personally identifiable information” from public records — including who their family members work for.

If a legislator votes on [another] bill that benefits an industry employing their spouse or child, this bill gives them a legal way to hide that connection. The public is left blind to potential conflicts of interest.

For example: It is public record who owns a company; under this law, a “covered person” could request that information be hidden from public view. If this passes, there would be no way to trace how taxpayer handouts may end up in a legislator’s or family member’s pocket.