Freedom of Information Act reform is dead for this Congressional session. As House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) closed the last meeting of the 113th Congress, the FOIA bill was nowhere to be found despite pleas from both sides of the aisle.
The Senate last week passed updated bipartisan FOIA legislation and urged House lawmakers to pass the bill before the current session ends.
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The Wichita City Council can decide to increase transparency in regards to spending, or let it remain being spent in secret.
The City of Wichita has three surrogate quasi-governmental agencies that are almost totally taxpayer-funded, specifically Go Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, and Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition. Each agency contends it is not a “public agency” as defined in Kansas law, and therefore does not have to fulfill records requests.
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Read More… from Wichita’s chance to increase government transparency on spending
In response to recent emails and phone calls I have received regarding my “yes” vote on HB 3796, I would like to explain why this legislation will, in fact, increase access to public records and improve the way voluminous or large Freedom of Information Act requests are processed.
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Read More… from FOIA bill will improve government transparency
This week Citizens United sued the State Department in federal court over its unlawful withholding of documents relating to Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.
We are currently in pre-production for a sequel to our landmark film Hillary: The Movie. This film will take a hard look at Hillary Clinton’s career and will tell the truth about her failed record as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State.
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Read More… from Opinion: Citizens united going to court over “stonewalled” Hillary records
A crime fraud exception to the federal open records law does not apply to emails sought by immigration lawyers who say government lawyers repeatedly deceived the courts about the ability of removed immigrants to return to the United States once they win a second chance in immigration court, a judge has ruled.
Southern District Judge Jed Rakoff (See Profile) denied the summary judgment motion of a coalition led by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild for 27 documents under the Freedom of Information Act, (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552.
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Read More… from Bid for Records Under FOIA’s Crime-Fraud Exception Fails
Advocates for greater openness in government were frustrated after Congress failed to update the Freedom of Information Act despite bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
Without a new law, government agencies are likely to continue stonewalling requests for records and other information, said Amy Bennett, assistant director of OpenTheGovernment.org, an advocacy group.
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Read More… from Congress Fails to Revise Government Records Law
The state Supreme Court has ruled that arbitrators are not covered by the state’s Freedom of Information laws, denying the public’s right to know what evidence is presented in arbitration hearings between teacher unions and school boards.
The Republican-American reports (http://bit.ly/1uuGtn8 ) that the case stems from a 2010 arbitration hearing between the Torrington Education Association and Torrington Board of Education.
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Read More… from Court: Arbitrators outside Freedom of Info law
Advocates for greater openness in government were frustrated Friday after Congress failed to update the Freedom of Information Act despite bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
Without a new law, government agencies are likely to continue stonewalling requests for records and other information, said Amy Bennett, assistant director of OpenTheGovernment.org, an advocacy group.
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Congress is quite adept at protecting its self-interest while ignoring the public’s interest, but this week offered a glimmer of hope that lawmakers still care about good governance and accountability. On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed the Freedom of Information Act Improvement Act, a bill critical to changing the federal government’s culture of resistance to openness.
The House must move quickly to pass the legislation before lawmakers head home for the holidays.
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Read More… from Editorial: House must pass FOIA reforms today
