Coalition of Journalists for Open Government Issues Scathing FOIA Report

The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government has issued a scathing report entitled "The Waiting Game:  FOIA Performance Hits New Lows."

The report basically outlines what readers to this blog already knew.  Namely, that backlogs have increased and are now at record highs since agencies began reporting them in 1998.  Further, the report shows that while the backlogs have increased, agency staffing of personnel processing FOIA has decreased.

It is my belief that until Congress acts, thereby forcing agencies to move resources into FOIA programs, nothing will change.  While the Executive Order issued in December of 2005 made agencies think about their FOIA programs, they weren't required to do anything constructive about them.  Only by forcing the agencies to put more resources into their FOIA programs will FOIA backlogs improve.