National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

Profile picture of NFOIC
Website
https://nfoic.org

Posts by NFOIC

Municipality launches new data website for Anchorage

Posted on

The city of Anchorage on Wednesday launched a new website aimed at making important data more accessible to residents, businesses and public officials.

So far the site includes data on crime, homelessness and property appraisal as well as inspection results for restaurants and childcare facilities. Brendan Babb, the city’s Chief Innovation Officer, says the project is still a work in progress and will likely have new features added in the future.

[…]

Read More… from Municipality launches new data website for Anchorage

Oklahoma: Watchdog sues Trump EPA pick to disclose contact with companies

Posted on

A media watchdog group filed suit on Tuesday to force U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency to release records detailing his communications with energy companies ahead of a Senate vote to confirm his nomination.

The lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma court by the Center for Media and Democracy and accuses Scott Pruitt, who is Oklahoma's attorney general as well as Trump's nominee to become the top U.S. environmental regulator, of violating the state's Open Records Act by failing to release those emails to the public.

[…]

Read More… from Oklahoma: Watchdog sues Trump EPA pick to disclose contact with companies

Attorney fees proposal could hurt access to Florida public records, watchdogs say

Posted on

State senators on Tuesday gave their first approval to legislation that open government advocates say threatens to roll back access to public records in Florida.

The bill (SB 80) would let judges decide whether or not to force government agencies to pay attorney fees when they illegally block access to records. Current law requires that agencies pay for the lawyers of members of the public who successfully sue them over records.

[…]

Read More… from Attorney fees proposal could hurt access to Florida public records, watchdogs say

Sunlight Foundation: You don’t have to be tech-savvy to benefit from open data

Posted on

Open data can help you even if you know nothing about data, because it can power tools and resources that are usable by anyone.

This was on clear display recently at TransportationCamp, an unconference that focuses on the intersection of transportation and technology. Several developers from Mapzen ran a session presenting some of the open-source mapping tools they’ve been working on recently.

Continue…

[…]

Read More… from Sunlight Foundation: You don’t have to be tech-savvy to benefit from open data

Kansas Lawmakers Consider Strengthening Open Government Law

Posted on

Two bills before a Kansas Senate committee would make government meetings and records more accessible to the public.

Both bills were presented to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee last week.

Senate Bill 70 clarifies a law that requires government bodies to justify going into private meetings. Under the measure, the reason for the private meeting would have to be recorded in public minutes.

[…]

Read More… from Kansas Lawmakers Consider Strengthening Open Government Law

MuckRock: The FBI’s FOIA portal restricts rights of requesters

Posted on

Yesterday, when Mike Best broke the news that the FBI would be shutting down its FOIA email address and directing all online submissions through its online portal, a few people sensibly asked just how bad that portal could be. We’re here to tell you how bad.

Full disclosure: Some of MuckRock’s best friends have worked on building FOIA portals (hey, 18F!). We think that there’s room for well-designed government software to make life easier for requesters AND agencies. But the FBI’s eFOIA system appears to be designed explicitly not to be used.

[…]

Read More… from MuckRock: The FBI’s FOIA portal restricts rights of requesters

Massachusetts agencies increasingly cite terrorism risk to withhold records

Posted on

The state agriculture department refused to release a list of dairy farmers.

Chicopee withheld the budget for its SWAT team.

Massachusetts State Police wouldn’t say how much they spent in salaries to operate each station.

[…]

Read More… from Massachusetts agencies increasingly cite terrorism risk to withhold records

MI: Bill would bring more transparency to state government, but there’s a loophole

Posted on

Rep. Chatfield said this proposal is similar to the legislation introduced last session. Last year, Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof shut down the bill because it didn't include an exception to correspondence received from a lawmaker's constituents.

That remains a major sticking point for this year's version of the legislation. The definition of a "constituent" is up for interpretation and could create a sizable loophole.

[…]

Read More… from MI: Bill would bring more transparency to state government, but there’s a loophole

HI: Judge rules state violated open records law in regards to health care facility reports

Posted on

In November, Always Investigating told you about a lawsuit by the Kokua Council against the Department of Health over its posting of health care facility inspections.

While digging into the long-term care reports – which track the trends of the most common violations – we found extensive blackouts on most of them.

A judge ruled Thursday, Feb. 2, that the redactions were overly extensive and violated the state’s open records law.

[…]

Read More… from HI: Judge rules state violated open records law in regards to health care facility reports