State Government – Page 9 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Montana, Bozeman launch online data portal for public information

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Bozeman has joined the state of Montana’s open government push as the first city to publish local databases on a state website. The website, data.mt.gov, contains 36 datasets. It includes all public information about the facilities leased by the state and employee pay information, among other databases. Four datasets from the city of Bozeman include all building permits issued since 1996 and city zoning districts.

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A four-minute primer on open government

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Maybe the wisest thing state lawmakers did this year was require that Washington officialdom learn some fundamentals about open government.

All elected policymakers and records officers must now get formal training on the state’s Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act within 90 days of taking office. They also have to take a refresher every four years.

Here’s a quick primer from an open-government point of view:

• If a member of the public asks for a public record, turn it over. The public owns it, not your agency. Really.

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Last-minute pension law change skirts transparency

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These are the kind of backroom deals that make people angry and distrustful of government.

In the final hours of the legislative session, state lawmakers crafted a pension law change that gives Louisiana's state police superintendent and one other trooper a sizable retirement boost, with no public debate of the implications or the cost. The price tag is estimated to be $300,000.

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Forum: Connecticut legislature should rectify disastrous court ruling on freedom of information

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It’s a big question really. Why would seven judges decide that the police can keep information about crime secret from the American public? That is essentially what the state Supreme Court did July 7.

Before becoming Supreme Court justices, four of the seven who decided the case were either prosecutors or city attorneys, one was an FBI agent — species not prone to informing the public. The justice who wrote the 27-page opinion, Richard Robinson, (there are no concurring or dissenting opinions) worked as a city lawyer for Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy.

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Statewide public records audit conducted in Ohio

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Public employees asked to provide common records during a statewide test of Ohio's open records laws in April followed the law in nine of every 10 requests, according to audit results that found much higher compliance than a similar survey a decade ago.

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Delaware bill eyes universities’ FOIA exemption

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A bill making the University of Delaware and Delaware State University subject to more public scrutiny has been released from a House committee, but with an amendment that guts the intent of the bill and may even weaken existing open-government provisions.

The bill discussed Thursday revises Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act to remove an exemption for the two schools, which receive millions of dollars in taxpayer money each year but are mostly exempt from open records and open meetings laws.

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Open data is open for business

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Last month, web designer Sean Wittmeyer and colleague Wojciech Magda walked away with a $25,000 prize from the state of Colorado for designing an online tool to help businesses decide where to locate in the state.

The tool, called "Beagle Score," is a widget that can be embedded in online commercial real estate listings. It can rate a location by taxes and incentives, zoning, even the location of possible competitors — all derived from about 30 data sets posted publicly by the state of Colorado and its municipalities.

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Open data making progress at state and government agency level in the US

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The publication of a new report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) prompts a quick look at the progress of the Obama administration’s US Open Data Action Plan.

That has its roots in the June 2013 pledge made at the Open Data Charter meeting of G7 leaders to publish a roadmap for improving use of open data as well as Obama’s executive order requiring federal agencies to make government data open and machine readable by default.

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Editorial: MN Governor’s signature on Timberjay bill is a victory for access to government

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Senate File 1770 had already received unanimous support in the House and the Senate. Known as the Timberjay bill, it would require that all government contracts with private business be subject to the Minnesota Data Practices Act, even if that open access is not specifically identified in the contract.

Last week Gov. Mark Dayton signed that bill, demonstrating that he understands and agrees with the public’s right to open access to government data.

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Editorial: Lawsuit shows how open government was a joke during (FL) redistricting

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Sometimes it takes a simple redistricting lawsuit to show us the funny side of the state Capitol. Redistricting, the once-a-decade process of redrawing congressional and legislative boundaries, isn’t something that’s the stuff of big laughs.

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