National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Bills could make state government less open

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The Florida First Amendment Foundation is tracking more than 80 bills in the Florida Legislature, some of which it says would hide important government records from public view.

The independent watchdog group released its list of bills Monday. It labelled some of the bills neutral in their effect on government openness but said it would oppose others. Those include a bill by Rep. Neil Combee, R-Polk City, to allow identities of applicants for top state university offices to remain anonymous.

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City of Chicago – Keeping Records Secret for Election Protection?

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With the upcoming Mayoral and Aldermanic elections for the City of Chicago, the city has apparently decided to keep requested public records a secret. The records requested are such that they could point to disqualification for office if revealed.

On January 31, 2015, I requested records relating to nearly every elected official in the City of Chicago government. The records I was seeking pertain to debts owed to the city, which included the time-frame for election petition filing. (read it below)

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Op-Ed: CT lawmakers should restore openness of arrest records

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The General Assembly held a public hearing last week on Raised Bill 6750, An Act Expanding The Requirement For Disclosure Of Arrest Records During A Pending Prosecution Under The Freedom Of Information Act.

The bill seeks to overturn a Connecticut Supreme Court decision last year, Comm’r of Public Safety v. FOIC, which set aside the Freedom of Information Commission’s longstanding (20 years!) interpretation of a provision of the Freedom of Information Act concerning the release of records concerning arrests.

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Tracy legislation could add costs to open records searches

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Legislation backed by Sen. Jim Tracy could make obtaining or inspecting government documents even more difficult and expensive, critics of the bill say.

Tracy, a Bedford County Republican, said he is sponsoring Senate Bill 328 at the request of the Tennessee School Boards Association, primarily to cut down on excessive records searches. It would change the state's open records law to allow government entities to charge for public requests to inspect or view public records, in addition to obtaining copies, which is already covered under state law.

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NIAGARA COUNTY: Legislature passes measure requiring IDA members to file financial disclosure statements

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The Niagara County Legislature has passed a resolution requiring members of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency to file financial disclosures that would be publicly accessible through Freedom of Information Law requests.

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Editorial: Don’t Let Police Decide What Public Should Know

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The cause of open government in Connecticut has taken extraordinarily hard knocks of late, undermining this state's once-sterling reputation nationally for valuing openness and promoting the free flow of information. One of the hardest was a disappointing state Supreme Court ruling last year that severely limits the amount of information that local police departments and the state police are required to disclose about an arrest while prosecution is pending.

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Open Meetings suit filed against Clark County Park District

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A Verified Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief naming the Clark County Park District as Defendant was filed in Clark County Circuit Court on 02/18/2015.

This stems from the February 17, 2015 meeting where the Board approved “Lease Rates” and “Amended Covenants” but kept the contents of those documents secret from the public.

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Mondale, Hart press for new exam of open government

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"It is not often that nations learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it." — Henry Kissinger

Former Sens. Walter Mondale, D-Minn., and Gary Hart, D-Colo., hope they can buck that trend. The two former senators have spoken out on a call for re-establishment of a new "Church Committee," a hallmark in the history of open government initiatives, now honored 40 years after its work.

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Maryland Gov. Hogan ‘executive privilege’ email troubles open-government advocates

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Gov. Larry Hogan may have campaigned on a pledge to bring more transparency to government in Annapolis, but his lawyer has urged agency heads and staff to stamp a claim of "executive privilege" — the civilian equivalent of "top secret" — on all their internal correspondence, emails and documents.

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