Post by Mech on Feb 12, 2004 16:38:47 GMT -5
Walker pledges Utah will not reconnect with the Matrix
By Dan Harrie
The Salt Lake Tribune
Gov. Olene Walker pledged through her chief of staff Tuesday that Utah will not reconnect with a controversial anti-terrorism program using billions of government records on citizens without specific approval from the Legislature.
Staff Chief Gary Doxey said he hopes the vow persuades lawmakers not to rush to permanently sever Utah's participation in Matrix during the current legislative session before a newly appointed oversight committee has a chance to thoroughly investigate the project.
The panel held its first meeting Tuesday in the Capitol and set as its main objective during the coming months making a recommendation to the governor and Legislature whether or not privacy concerns outweighed the benefits for law enforcement.
Doxey, who acts as chairman of the governor-appointed committee, said Utah officials need to "strike a balance of liberty and individual rights along with figuring out how to do law enforcement better and live in the information age."
Walker pulled the plug -- at least temporarily -- on Utah's involvement in Matrix and announced formation of the oversight committee Jan. 29. She said she had learned of the project just hours earlier as word of the federally funded pilot project spread across Capitol Hill, prompting shrill objections about its apparent secrecy.
Former Gov. Mike Leavitt authorized Utah's sign-up in the Matrix pilot project though the Department of Public Safety, but apparently never briefed his lieutenant governor and successor, Walker, or lawmakers about the decision.
State motor vehicle, driver license, criminal and prisons records are combined with those of other state and commercial databases -- containing such information as property ownership, bankruptcies and marriage records -- in a system police can access in minutes instead of days or weeks under old technology.
Walker has downplayed concerns she was cut out of the loop, saying the project was generally viewed as an administrative matter of "technology enhancement," rather than a weighty public policy directive. Leading lawmakers, however, have bitterly complained about the under-the-radar approach on a matter of vital interest to Utahns.
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Leavitt, who last November took over the helm of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, has declined to provide details of the genesis of the project or to comment on the recent furor over it.
"It's an important public policy debate and the current governor is capable of conducting it," Leavitt told The Tribune over the weekend. While governor, Leavitt served on President Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council, and was an outspoken advocate of information-sharing between state, federal and local law-enforcement agencies.
Doxey told lawmakers, executive branch officials and a citizens' representative on the committee Monday that they should plan in future meetings to pore over records and take testimony from a variety of witnesses. No mention was made whether Leavitt would be called before the panel, which does not have subpoena powers.
"That would be interesting political theater," speculated Steve Erickson, director of the Citizens Education Project, which, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and some conservative groups has raised privacy concerns about Matrix.
"There are a lot of people who are going to have to answer questions about what they knew and their involvement in the process, but I wouldn't want to single anyone out," Erickson said.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville and a committee member, said in addition to answering questions about the operation and safeguards of Matrix, it is important to probe who knew what and when about the state's participation.
Some of those queries might be directed at Doxey, who served as chief legal counsel to Leavitt before being named Walker's chief of staff.
In an interview following Monday's committee meeting, Doxey acknowledged having reviewed last August Utah's draft agreement with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide certain categories of government records to the multi-state project. He said he made suggestions about how the proposal should be changed to conform with state records and privacy laws and forwarded those to the Attorney General's Office.
Still, Doxey said he did not have specific knowledge about what the project entailed. "What is Matrix? I'm not sure I could have told you."
Doxey said he did not believe his prior involvement constituted a conflict of interest with his current role in heading the Matrix oversight committee. "I don't see one. I served both governors (Leavitt and Walker) loyally." -----
Tribune reporter Brent Israelsen contributed to this report.
By Dan Harrie
The Salt Lake Tribune
Gov. Olene Walker pledged through her chief of staff Tuesday that Utah will not reconnect with a controversial anti-terrorism program using billions of government records on citizens without specific approval from the Legislature.
Staff Chief Gary Doxey said he hopes the vow persuades lawmakers not to rush to permanently sever Utah's participation in Matrix during the current legislative session before a newly appointed oversight committee has a chance to thoroughly investigate the project.
The panel held its first meeting Tuesday in the Capitol and set as its main objective during the coming months making a recommendation to the governor and Legislature whether or not privacy concerns outweighed the benefits for law enforcement.
Doxey, who acts as chairman of the governor-appointed committee, said Utah officials need to "strike a balance of liberty and individual rights along with figuring out how to do law enforcement better and live in the information age."
Walker pulled the plug -- at least temporarily -- on Utah's involvement in Matrix and announced formation of the oversight committee Jan. 29. She said she had learned of the project just hours earlier as word of the federally funded pilot project spread across Capitol Hill, prompting shrill objections about its apparent secrecy.
Former Gov. Mike Leavitt authorized Utah's sign-up in the Matrix pilot project though the Department of Public Safety, but apparently never briefed his lieutenant governor and successor, Walker, or lawmakers about the decision.
State motor vehicle, driver license, criminal and prisons records are combined with those of other state and commercial databases -- containing such information as property ownership, bankruptcies and marriage records -- in a system police can access in minutes instead of days or weeks under old technology.
Walker has downplayed concerns she was cut out of the loop, saying the project was generally viewed as an administrative matter of "technology enhancement," rather than a weighty public policy directive. Leading lawmakers, however, have bitterly complained about the under-the-radar approach on a matter of vital interest to Utahns.
Advertisement
Leavitt, who last November took over the helm of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, has declined to provide details of the genesis of the project or to comment on the recent furor over it.
"It's an important public policy debate and the current governor is capable of conducting it," Leavitt told The Tribune over the weekend. While governor, Leavitt served on President Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council, and was an outspoken advocate of information-sharing between state, federal and local law-enforcement agencies.
Doxey told lawmakers, executive branch officials and a citizens' representative on the committee Monday that they should plan in future meetings to pore over records and take testimony from a variety of witnesses. No mention was made whether Leavitt would be called before the panel, which does not have subpoena powers.
"That would be interesting political theater," speculated Steve Erickson, director of the Citizens Education Project, which, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and some conservative groups has raised privacy concerns about Matrix.
"There are a lot of people who are going to have to answer questions about what they knew and their involvement in the process, but I wouldn't want to single anyone out," Erickson said.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville and a committee member, said in addition to answering questions about the operation and safeguards of Matrix, it is important to probe who knew what and when about the state's participation.
Some of those queries might be directed at Doxey, who served as chief legal counsel to Leavitt before being named Walker's chief of staff.
In an interview following Monday's committee meeting, Doxey acknowledged having reviewed last August Utah's draft agreement with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide certain categories of government records to the multi-state project. He said he made suggestions about how the proposal should be changed to conform with state records and privacy laws and forwarded those to the Attorney General's Office.
Still, Doxey said he did not have specific knowledge about what the project entailed. "What is Matrix? I'm not sure I could have told you."
Doxey said he did not believe his prior involvement constituted a conflict of interest with his current role in heading the Matrix oversight committee. "I don't see one. I served both governors (Leavitt and Walker) loyally." -----
Tribune reporter Brent Israelsen contributed to this report.