A government that shields out the people can’t be trusted. End of story. I’m going home.

There’s not much more you need to know about how government should run, if we’re still abiding by democracy. Yet for some reason across this country and across my three decades of watching boards, commissions and bureaucrats, there’s no shortage of public servants’ will to risk keeping a secret, big or small.

Most of all, your inequitable share of megabits per second shouldn’t squelch your access to information and participation.

As the Colorado General Assembly prepares to gavel in on Jan. 13, I’m more concerned than ever that the circle of insiders and influencers is way too small. That only fuels distrust and elevates the temptation to cut corners on public access and transparency.

Because of COVID-19, if the public wants to be part of some of the most important decisions in Colorado history the next few months, they better have their heads in the game and their eyes on the internet, download speed willing.

Walking the halls of the Capitol and sitting in on committees will be difficult, if not impossible, so folks are going to have to visit websites and click links to follow along.

That thins an already thin crowd of those of us who normally put morning, noon and night into keeping up during the first few months of every year.

This session won’t be normal.

Essential workers and politicians were herded around as safely as they could be during the three-day special session a few weeks ago. Lawmakers — well, most of them — wore masks and socially distanced. A Republican staffer came to the Capitol, despite her exposure, only to learn she was positive during the session.

Democrats and others were rightfully indignant at the reckless act. 

Some lawmakers, because of health issues, participated remotely, patched in electronically to the main chamber and committee rooms. The public is still figuring it out.

On the second day, much-respected Republican Rep. Jim Wilson apologized for blinking in and out of the first days’ work, because of a slow internet hookup at his home in Salida. 

“We don’t have 5G and 4G out here in the country,” he said. “We have 1G. That means you say, ‘Oh, gee, it quit on us, again.’”

He spoke over a Webex linkup from his dining room table. Out of view of the screen, there’s a mountain lion that Wilson bagged mounted on a branch attached to the wall above his head; I’ve been there.

It was the slow internet that preyed upon the representation the retired superintendent could provide his district, just as it might impede students in the schools he once led.

That’s the inequity I was talking about. 

Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Democrat from Vail, said the pandemic has brought internet inequality to the fore in the immediate future. Over the years, Donovan has sponsored at least a half-dozen major bills to expand broadband access in rural communities to help their schools, businesses and residents who are denied the privilege of streaming video, without freezing and sputtering.

More Coloradans than ever are working from home, using their computer’s eye for everything from class reunions to doctor’s visits.

On Dec. 7, Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1001, which Donovan co-sponsored to provide $20 million in grants to K-12 to beef up their broadband to allow more online learning during and after the pandemic. 

“I wouldn’t have predicted that a few months ago,” she said of the groundswell for broadband. “I think the pandemic has highlighted the structural weaknesses, when we’re asking more people to do more things online.

“The inequity of broadband has a bright light shining on it.”

The issue plays a role at the Capitol. 

It’s easy enough to watch debates on the House and Senate floors on YouTube, and the legislative website streams audio, live and archived, of every committee meeting.

It’s not easy to get a chance to speak, though, not the way you might if you wandered into a committee room and signed the sheet at the door. Every lobbyist I’ve talked to said they have to be there, or they won’t get face time, even if it’s through a mask.

Legislators burned up a lot of trust in remote lobbying a few months ago. In March, the General Assembly adjourned because of the COVID-19 crisis. They came back in mid-May supposedly to deal only with bills that were “fast, friendly and free” to cut down the risk.

Instead, they took up some of the most consequential bills of the year: racial equity in policing, paid medical leave, immunization records, a budget through a blender and a raft of legislation that made my friends in the business lobby gasp.

Bills were introduced, rushed through committee, then bounced to the floor for a vote day after day.

Because we need to hurry is a poor excuse to bypass a deliberative process, which is central to our democracy. 

Honest Abe wasn’t whistling “Dixie” at Gettysburg when he said, “A government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

While the ballot box is being questioned, Colorado lawmakers should make sure elected representative government can be trusted, as well.