National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Tag: open government

Lawsuit seeks to restore FOIA access to NSC records

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From Politico:  A legal clinic seeking information on the U.S. Government's use of drone strikes and "kill lists" in the war on terror is mounting a headlong drive to restore the Freedom of Information Act's reach into the White House.

For decades, the core federal transparency law had some—albeit limited—purchase in the White House. At least some National Security Council records could be obtained through FOIA, along with some administrative records relating to White House operations.

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Seattle-area Housing Authority institutes transparency reforms

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Settlement in Knight FOI Fund case resolves tenant’s open meeting complaint, but public records issues are still pending.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (August 6, 2013) – A public housing agency serving suburban Seattle, Wash., will institute a sweeping series of transparency measures as a result of a lawsuit made possible by the inspired persistence of an engaged public housing resident and a litigation grant made under the Knight FOI Fund.

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Change to electronic recordkeeping adds cost to FOIA requests

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From The Daily Progress:  A shift to electronic filing for financial disclosure forms for 25,000 state workers and elected officials means it could cost the public dramatically more to get the records.

Searching 2008 to 2011 disclosure records for 525 Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control employees, for example, cost The Daily Progress nothing. The price tag for accessing the same documents for 2012 would have been $1,200, according to state officials.

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Senators ponder if bloggers deserve First Amendment protection

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From Yahoo! News:  The Senate Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 would establish a national “shield law” that would give journalists protection from testifying in situations when investigators want the sources of confidential information used in media reports.

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Federal food stamp program lacks transparency

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The lack of transparency regarding the federal food stamp program, known as known as "SNAP,"  short for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, was the subject of this strong column by writers Felice Freyer and Irene Wielawski published in today's Los Angeles Times. NFOIC executive director Kenneth Bunting  was one of the signers of the letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that is referenced in the column. 

So far, there has been no answer or response to that April 3 letter.

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NEFAC open government news for July 2013

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From New England First Amendment Coalition:  The NEFAC Report — New England's monthly right-to-know dispatch.

This month:

Electronic Chatter Among Officials at Public Meetings Raises Issues of Transparency:  

NASHUA, N.H. – When officials in Nashua came up with an idea to equip the city's elected leaders with electronic tablets at public meetings to save costs on paper copies of documents, it seemed like a decent idea.

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California Common Sense launches open data portal

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From CivSource:  California Common Sense (CACS) a non-partisan non-profit founded by Stanford students and alumni to open government to the public, develop data-driven policy analysis, and educate citizens about how their governments work has launched a new open data portal. Data will include national Medicaid spending figures, along with several California specific spending datasets available as .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .pdf, and other files.

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