National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Texas: Open-government advocates cheer bills passed by Legislature

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AUSTIN – A measure that would make private university police reports subject to Texas' open-government laws was one of a number of transparency measures approved by the Legislature this session.

Senate Bill 308, authored by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, was filed in response to a student who was fatally shot by University of Incarnate Word police officers in San Antonio, and another incident at Rice University.

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Connecticut – Charter School Transparency Bill Clears The Senate And House

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HARTFORD — A bipartisan bill that seeks greater accountability and transparency from the operators of the state's 22 public charter schools got resounding approval in both the Senate and the House Tuesday and will now move to the governor's desk.

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House panel approves FCC transparency bill

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A House panel passed a bill aimed at making the FCC more transparent on Wednesday over the objections of Democrats who opposed a trio of Republican amendments on what was originally a bipartisan measure.

The FCC Process Reform Act was approved by the House Energy and Commerce committee through a voice vote.

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FEDERAL AGENCIES: Behind the scenes, regulators try to shape FOIA bill

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New documents shed light on a quiet campaign by federal agencies to shape legislation that would strengthen the Freedom of Information Act.

Emails between staff for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and congressional aides, obtained by Greenwire under FOIA, show financial regulators' heightened interest in and attempts to change S. 337 and H.R. 653, two bills moving on Capitol Hill that would reform the public records law.  Continue>>>

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US Government’s Health Data Website Gets a Refresh

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The Department of Health and Human Services last week unveiled a redesign of its data repository, HealthData.gov.

The site aims to make government health-related data sets more accessible to the public for analysis; the new HealthData.gov migrated old content to DKAN, an open-source, Drupal-based platform built by NuCivic, a tech company based in New York. Continue>>>

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Body-Worn Camera Legislation Spikes in State Legislatures

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Police shootings in the U.S. have taken over the national spotlight during the past year, triggering a rash of legislative proposals on the need for body-worn cameras. From bills that mandate police use of the technology, to others that set up policy guidelines for how the cameras should be used, the issue has exploded in state legislatures.

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LIVE STREAMING JUNE 3, 2015 – Ensuring Agency Compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

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HEARING PURPOSE:

This hearing will examine the processes agencies use to meet FOIA’s legal requirements and explore barriers to effective and efficient compliance from the FOIA officer’s perspective. The Committee will hear from the witnesses tasked with implementing FOIA at several agencies that need to improve response efforts. View live streaming here

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LIVE STREAMING June 2, 2015 – Ensuring Transparency through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

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HEARING PURPOSE:

To examine the use of FOIA requests as a tool for government transparency and explore barriers to accessing public documents from the user’s perspective. The Committee will hear from witnesses that use FOIA in news reporting, academic research, and to conduct government oversight.  View live streaming here

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