The FOIA blog

California Public Record Changes on Life Support for 2007

According to the Salinas Californian, changes to the California Public Record law may not happen in 2007.  The bill has been stripped of much of its original intent and the legislative session ends next week.  If the bill dies, it is likely that a similar bill will be attempted in 2008.   

Virginia Coalition for Open Government Newsletter

The Virginia Coalition for Open Government's Summer newsletter is out.  It is chock full of information about FOIA happenings in Virgina.

Washington Public Records Accountability Task Force Named

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has announced the appointments to the State's "sunshine" committee.  This group will review  exemptions to public disclosure laws and make recommendations on whether these exemptions are still needed within the framework of the state public record laws.

Once again, it is the states, not the federal government, that are making forward moving changes in public records law.  Whether or not the committee ultimately recommends removing exemptions, just the fact that the state is willing to look at taking these steps is a positive move for requesters. 

Latest on PA's Open Records Reform

This editorial from the Philadelphia Inquirer gives an overview of the move to reform Pennsylvania's antiquated Right to Know law.  It seems to be more difficult than the Governor and others envisioned even though creating a disclosure friendly law should be simple as many states have already done it over the past 40 years.

Dispute Over Tennessee Ombudsman Plan

The AP is reporting that there is a dispute between Ten. Governor Phil Bredesen and State Comptroller John Morgan over how to split up the duties for the Tennessee Open Records Ombudsman.  The role of Ombudsman was recently appropriated $100,000.  Gov. Bredesen would like one non-lawyer to be the Ombudsman with that person sending more complex questions to existing state legal staff.  Morgan however wants the role to go to a number of people so that the job doesn't get associated with just one person.  Bredesen disagrees with this plan--he wants one person to be the primary ombudsman.

Hopefully this will be worked out and the ombudsman in Tennessee will soon begin.  Many other states and the federal government are looking at ombudsman, so in a sense, Tennessee will be somewhat of a lab experiment for other public records laws and the FOIA.

Indiana Has New Public Access Counselor

The Indiana Daily Student, the newspaper of record from Indiana University of which I am a proud alumni, reports that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has appointed a new public access counselor.  The public access counselor has not actual power to enforce Indiana Public Record Laws, however, the position seems to assist some in their disputes with Indiana government offices that don't always want to follow the state laws. 

The position seems to be similar to the ombudsman role that Tennessee has recently thought about creating.  I would hope that any state, as well as the federal government, would look into the negatives and positives of the Indiana experiment before passing new legislation for similar offices rather than reinvent their own wheels.

Oregon Amends its Public Records Law

Oregon has two new changes to its Public Records Law according to the Salem Statesman-Journal.

The first requires government agencies to respond without delay to requests for public documents.  The second requires government agencies to release a condensed version of information that agencies otherwise could withhold from disclosure because of confidentiality of communications between agencies and the lawyers who represent them.

PA House Committee Votes For Changes to State Right to Know Law

The Pennsylvania House Reform Commission has approved major changes in the state's Right to Know law.  The proposals will now go to the House Speaker who will send them to various committee's for action on them.  A Senate committee has previously approved changes to the law.  Pennsylvania's governor, house speaker and senate majority leader have all previously stated they want the law to be changed to become more disclosure friendly.

Tennessee Editorial Re: Ombudsman

Here's an editorial from tricities.com urging Tennessee to fund Gov. Phil Bredesen's (D) proposed Public Record Ombudsman.  I'd rather see this concept tested at the state level than at the federal level, allowing for the kinks to be worked out on a smaller scale.

Around the States

Pennsylvania State Senate Majority Leader Dominic (not Nicholas--thanks to a reader who is much more careful than I) Pileggi (R) has announced that he's for the proposition that public records should be public--which is a change from how the state's Right to Know law works.  Thus, the prognosis for a major overhaul in the Pennslyvania law is very good.  The state Senate held a hearing on Pileggi's proposed overhaul this week.

Texas has made some changes to its open records law.  They are detailed in this Houston Chronicle article.