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A committee took the unusual step Wednesday of passing a bill to change the state's open-records law without first having in writing what its sponsor says the legislation eventually will say and do.

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, persuaded the Senate Business Committee, where he serves as chairman, to approve unanimously sending SB157 to the full Senate. He said he will amend it later to reflect ongoing negotiations with the news media, local governments, law-enforcement officials and the attorney general.

"It will have several provisions that are not currently in this bill, and we ask the indulgence of the committee to pass the bill out … on the basis that we will have an agreement with all the stakeholders before we have a vote" in the full Senate, Bramble said.

He said coming amendments will contain "a revised appeals process" for when governments deny records under the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA).

He said groups are also negotiating how to handle requests for footage from police body cameras, and when it should be public or private.

Also, he said amendments may require the Utah Department of Commerce to make public consumer complaints or other records it has about companies accused of telephone fraud.

It is important, he said, for "citizens trying to figure out if a company is legitimate, if there's been complaints. That's an area that there's a significant amount of fraud."

No one besides Bramble testified on the bill, but he said stakeholders agreed to support moving the bill now to the full Senate.

News media and legislators have worked more closely in recent years on changes to GRAMA after a fierce fight in 2011 over HB477 — a law that largely gutted GRAMA. It was passed shortly after it was unveiled with limited review and public comment, which led to huge public protests and angry editorials.

Under pressure, the Legislature took the unusual step to repeal HB477, and set up a working group to review any needed changes to the law. Changes it recommended passed without controversy.