A bill guaranteeing a citizen’s right to legally contest closed public meetings is a welcome response to a state Supreme Court ruling that weakened that right.

The bill, SB 109 by Sen. Rick Laible, R-Victor, specifically states that citizens have standing to sue when denied access to public meetings or records.

The high court dismissed a complaint last year from a women in Ravalli County who accused the Darby School District of hiring a superintendent in secret. The justices said merely being a taxpayer isn’t enough to give the woman standing.

On the advice of news organizations and the governor’s office, Laible is tinkering with his measure. As originally written, the bill specified that in order to have standing, a citizen must live within the borders of the school district or other relevant jurisdiction. That would unwisely limit the rights of a person living outside the boundary who nevertheless had an interest in a government meeting.

Laible said he’s willing to amend his bill. “I’m not trying to limit access,” he said. “I’m not trying to limit participation, I’m trying to expand participation.”

And we congratulate him for that. Open government is the surest way to encourage good government, and anything that curtails a citizen’s right to stick his or her nose into governmental affairs is poor public policy.