With Illinois FOIA and Open Meetings Act, it’s McHenry County residents’ right to know
Bill Would Subject Governor, Legislature to Freedom of Information Act
A state lawmaker says it’s time to subject the governor’s office and the Legislature to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). State Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids) says he’ll introduced the bill soon.
“It just didn’t seem to make any sense to continue to allow the governor’s office to not be subject to the same laws as everybody else,” he says. “So in this version of the bill, both the Legislature and the governor would be subject to FOIA.”
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Open meetings bill withdrawn in Wyoming House
A legislative proposal that had concerned government transparency advocates has been withdrawn by the bill’s sponsor.
Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, pulled House Bill 232 Thursday morning right before it was about to be debated by the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee.
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Bill would limit Public Information Act to Texans
A bill filed Wednesday seeks to limit the scope of the Texas Public Information Act to Texas residents.
The legislation, filed by Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, would allow members of a governmental body to decide if they want to deny or comply with open records requests filed by non-Texas residents. Current law stipulates public information in Texas must be made available to all members of the public, without regard to residency.
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SC House panel advances public records legislation
Proposals aimed at ending governmental abuses of the state's open records law advanced Wednesday in the South Carolina House.
Legislation sent to the full House Judiciary Committee would require government entities to respond more quickly to requests, bar them from charging excessive fees, and create a way to settle disputes quickly and cheaply.
"It's designed to clean up the abuses that exist and are in practice today and make it easy for citizens to seek redress," said Rep. Weston Newton, R-Bluffton, the main sponsor.
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Editorial: S.C. Senate moves to fix FOIA
To their credit South Carolina state senators are moving quickly and decisively to fix two significant problems that arose last year and left our state’s Freedom of Information Act significantly weakened. With two rulings last summer the S.C. Supreme Court dealt serious blows to the state laws designed to protect the public’s ability to know what governing bodies and elected officials are doing.
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Editorial: Right, left join forces over FOIA
Miracles do happen. Two Michigan institutions on opposites sides of the political spectrum recently found some common ground.
The conservative leaning Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit last week against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission over ridiculous fees the agency charged for a freedom of information request.
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Arizona bills seek to limit access to public information
For one state lawmaker, allowing political candidates to keep their home addresses out of the public record would help ensure their safety. For another, allowing former judges to keep their addresses and phone numbers out of public records would accomplish the same.
Three bills introduced so far during this legislative session would make what currently is public information private, including a measure that would keep the names of lottery winners secret for 90 days to give those people time to prepare for the world knowing.
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Opinion: Massachusetts’ problem with transparency
If you want to see your government in action, just take a seat in the gallery high above the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
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