National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

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CFOIC: ‘Modest approach’ to CORA modernization wins House approval

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Legislation to modernize Colorado’s open-records law underwent a significant makeover Tuesday night with a little more than a day left in the 2017 session.

The Colorado House gave preliminary approval to a completely reworked, shorter version of Senate Bill 17-040 designed to satisfy both records requesters and the government entities that have opposed the measure.

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Florida First Amendment Foundation 2017 Legislative Review

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The Florida First Amendment Foundation worked hard throughout Florida's legislative session to advocate for open government and freedom of information. They just released their final report for the 2017 session, which can be found with their weekly reports.

The reports can be found here.

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These Federal Agencies Agreed To Conceal Some Of Their Communications From The Public

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At least three federal government agencies have agreed to seemingly conceal official communications with a congressional committee from public information requests, following letters sent last month by the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.

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Secretive Nonprofits Back Governors Around The Country

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Optics aside, Greitens isn't the only governor connected to supportive nonprofit organizations.

Groups in Arizona, Illinois and Georgia have sprung up to help the states' governors, while avoiding traditional donation requirements. Robert Maguire of the Center for Responsive Politics said the groups are the "unlimited, undisclosed arm of the administration that basically … bolsters the agenda of the governor."

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Scholars: When CEOs Visit the White House, Their Companies Profit

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In the first study of its kind, we used the Obama administration’s White House visitor logs from 2009–2015 to identify 2,286 meetings between federal government officials and corporate executives from S&P 1500 firms. We found that money can buy you greater access to the White House, and that for corporations, that access translated into big returns on Wall Street.

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If Fla. Gov. Rick Scott signs this bill, 2.7 million criminal records vanish from public view

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More than 2.7 million criminal records will be sealed and the arrest records of hundreds of thousands of people will be concealed under a bill heading to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk.

An open records advocacy group is sounding the alarm and calling for Scott to veto the bill, warning it could hide the backgrounds of dangerous people.

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From GovExec: FOIA Requests Hit Record High, Processing Improves

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Document requesters used the Freedom of Information Act in record numbers in fiscal 2016, but agency offices still managed to reduce the long-standing backlog, according to the latest annual report from the Justice Department.

FOIA offices governmentwide received a record high of 788,769 requests, a 10.6 percent increase over the previous year, Justice’s Office of Information Policy reported on Wednesday. Requests have marched steadily upward since 2009, with a slight dip in fiscal 2015.

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Massachusetts police abuse exemption in public-records law, reform panel is told

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A number of exemptions allow public agencies to keep secret routine documents that are easily accessible in most other states. Now, for the first time in more than four decades, Massachusetts lawmakers are in the midst of revamping the state’s weak public records law. As part of the overhaul, a state working group has been charged with reviewing and evaluating the way in which law enforcement agencies have used public records exemptions and will recommend changes to the Legislature by year’s end.

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