Author: NFOIC

September 6, 2011

From NorthCountryNow:

POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam hosts its 20th Annual Local Government Conference Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a variety of workshops on topics important to public servants and community leaders alike.

The keynote speaker is former state assemblywoman and current New York State Deputy Secretary of State for Local Government and Dierdre Scozzafava. In this position, the longtime North Country public servant works to streamline municipal government across the state.

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Read More… from 20th annual Local Government Conference returns to Potsdam (NY)

September 6, 2011

From IowaPolitics.com:

DES MOINES — In battles statewide, Iowans are fighting for access to government meetings and records. While state and federal right-to-information laws are on the books to help, Iowans say they’re still running into roadblocks.

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Read More… from Struggle to provide more open records in Iowa continues

September 6, 2011

From Joel Campbell, special to the Salt Lake Tribune:

When people start complaining about the burden public records requests place on local and state government, there is usually one element to the conversation that is missing: the evidence.

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Read More… from Salt Lake City’s tracking system a model for others

September 6, 2011

From MediaShift Idea Lab:

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Read More… from Rich metadata available in state legal codes

A few items selected from many of interest in the last few days.

Open meetings change urged at meeting of Tennessee County Commissioners Association

From the Shelbyville Times-Gazette:

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Read More… from NFOIC FOI Friday for September 2 2011

September 1, 2011

From OMB Watch:

Yesterday, OMB Watch submitted its recommendations for the Obama administration's national plan for the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The administration will unveil its plan, with new concrete commitments to increase transparency, at the international OGP meeting on Sept. 20.

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Read More… from How to strengthen transparency in the U.S. Open Government Partnership plan

September 1, 2011

From Wyoming Tribune Eagle:

SUNDANCE — A legislative committee advanced two bills here Wednesday that would make significant changes to the state's open-meetings and public documents laws.

The Joint Judiciary Committee directed legislative staff to prepare proposal legislation for its next meeting, Oct. 13-14 in either Evanston or Laramie. At that point, the panel will decide whether to support the bills in the budget session of the Legislature in January.

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Read More… from Public access bills advance in Wyoming

September 1, 2011

From Rome News-Tribune:

ATLANTA — Complaints of illegal government secrecy have more than doubled during last year, Attorney General Sam Olens told the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

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Read More… from Georgia Sunshine Law revision draws comments

From postcrescent.com:

MADISON — A website created by law five years ago to provide the public a window into state government spending has limited value in keeping taxpayers informed, state auditors have concluded.

In a report released Wednesday, the Legislative Audit Bureau said design problems and a lack of reporting by state agencies have hampered the Contract Sunshine site, which is administered by the Government Accountability Board.

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Read More… from Auditors blast Wisconsin state website

August 31, 2011

From thesouthern.com:

CHICAGO – Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that allows the state more time to respond to Freedom of Information Act from so-called “recurrent requesters.''

Quinn's office says the Illinois governor signed the measure into law Friday and it takes effect immediately. The law also allows government entities to charge for the actual costs of retrieving information.

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Read More… from Illinois governor OKs law giving more time for FOIA responses