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The debate over public notices and where they should be published isn’t specific to Oregon.

During the 2009 legislative session Utah lawmakers passed a bill – – that removed the requirements for posting some public notices in newspapers. As part of the bill, the Utah Press Association created a central website where city governments submit most of their public notices for citizen review. The bill, pitched by Sen. Stephen Urquhart, was intended to save money for taxpayers and city governments.

But now a new bill – – is making its way through the state House of Representatives that would repeal most of the rules adopted in SB 208. The new bill, which is being pitched by Urquhart, once again requires public notices – like bid invitations and requests for proposals – to be published in newspapers.

City governments are still required to submit the notices to the central website, but Urquhart discovered that publishing them in the newspapers in most cases wasn’t costing cities as much as thought originally. The legislation sets parameters around what can be charged for a public notice.

According to the bill, a newspaper that publishes a legal notice can’t charge more than its average advertising rate. That rate is determined by dividing a newspaper’s gross advertising revenue by the gross column-inch space used in the newspaper for advertising, the legislation said.

The bill has been passed by the Senate, and is making its way through the House of Representatives.