Government transparency advocates say New York’s laws often make it too difficult and too costly for members of the public to obtain what should be public information.
With that in mind, representatives from more than 30 organizations and a handful of state lawmakers held a rally on Tuesday in Albany to call for passage of measures they believe would go a long way to addressing problems within New York’s “broken” public information disclosure system.
The groups, which included the New York Coalition for Open Government, the New York Public Interest Research Group, and the League of Women Voters, are eyeing the passage of four pieces of proposed legislation, all designed to improve the responsiveness of public agencies to requests filed under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, more commonly known as “FOIL.”
“The current design of our FOIL system is backward and unworkable,” said Erika Smitka, deputy director of the League of Women Voters. ‘There’s a lack of transparency and clarity in a process that’s meant to provide just that. FOIL laws are a method for citizens in a just democracy to be able to hold their government accountable. The way our laws are set up now, it enables not only government agencies but corporations and businesses to skirt the system and utilize loopholes to avoid providing access to information that should be accessible.”
The transparency advocacy groups gathered in Albany this week to mark Sunshine Week, which they described as the “perfect time” for New York’s leaders to “confront and acknowledge the challenges” facing the state’s public information system.
Sunshine Week is designed to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary government secrecy. It is held each year in mid-March around March 16, which is National Freedom of Information Day and the birthday of President James Madison who is widely considered the “Father” of the U.S. Constitution.
During Tuesday’s press conference, transparency advocates said state and local agencies routinely take months and even years to provide public records requested under the FOIL in New York. They said not only are agencies incredibly slow to provide records, they often provide a fraction of the records requested and contrive endless excuses – basically daring the public to go to court.
Advocates for reform measures believe passage of four pending bills would go a long way to improving the responsiveness of the system, including one sponsored by state Sen. John Liu, a Democrat from Queens, that would make it easier for individuals and groups that have successfully challenged denials of record requests in court to obtain reimbursed for their legal costs from public agencies.
“Freedom of information,” said Liu, who took part in Tuesday’s press conference. “Whose information? Not my information. Not information that is owned by the government. It is information that belongs in the hands of the people. When people have information, that is the only way that we can have a truly democratic society, a government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
Williamsville attorney Paul Wolf, who is the founder and president of the New York Coalition for Open Government, said under New York’s present set of rules, it is often the case that residents, news outlets and non-profit advocacy groups must go to court to attempt to force public agencies into compliance with FOIL, which can get costly.
“In New York state, unlike many other states, there are no penalties for violating the FOIL law or the open meetings law,” Wolf said. “There’s no government agency that monitors compliance with those laws. There’s no enforcement of those laws, other than citizens filing a lawsuit, which is a pretty burden to put on the public but that’s the way it works in New York state.”
The other pieces of reform legislation supported by the advocacy groups include:
• The FOIL Timeline Act, which would speed up the FOIL process by deeming requests constructively denied if the agency does not acknowledge requests within five business days. The bill also makes 30 days the maximum amount of time an agency may take to deny requests, and 60 days the maximum to provide them. A firm cap of 60 days will allow requestors to get documents and, if necessary, appeal and sue within a reasonable timeline, advocates said.
• FOIL Reporting Act, which would require agencies to publicly report basic information about how they deal with the FOIL requests they are receiving. Advocates noted that, under the state’s current rules, the public must literally FOIL the agency FOIL logs to analyze the state of information requests. The bill requires agencies to annually report FOIL data such as when each request was received, how it was resolved, and more to the Committee on Open Government. Advocates argue that publishing such data will show legislators and the public which agencies are complying with FOIL and which are shirking it and
• The Limiting the Commercial FOIL Exemption Act, which requires businesses applying for exemptions from the public release of information deemed “proprietary” to reapply for the exemption every three years. Transparency advocates said the current system allows such information to be exempted from public disclosure indefinitely, preventing taxpayers from being able to see who is getting their money and what goods and services vendors are providing.