National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Posts by NFOIC

Proposed rules for public records fees in Wyoming concern open government advocates

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A state government proposal would require Wyoming agencies to charge a standard set of fees for obtaining public records.

The goal: simplifying that process across departments. But some have questioned parts of the proposed rules, including a section that appears to create a potential cost to inspect electronic records.

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Editorial: California special interests seek to limit right to know

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Legislators give lip service to the public’s right to know about government operations. But too often, for the right special interest, they will limit access to information.

Right now, two bills addressing this tendency are pending, one involving an entrenched special interest, the other a shiny new one.

One should pass. The other, not so much. Continue…

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Indiana Supreme Court declines to open lawmakers’ emails to public

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The Indiana Supreme Court Tuesday ruled it will not force Indiana lawmakers to release their emails under the state’s public records law.

The Court says to do so would violate the state constitution’s separation of powers. Citizen advocacy groups, including the Citizens Action Coalition, filed a lawsuit to gain access to emails between a House Republican legislator and utility companies.

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Pennsylvania announces open data portal

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Pennsylvania is renewing its commitment to transparency.

On April 18, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who assumed office in January, signed an executive order to create an open data portal. The new portal is mandated to contain downloadable, machine-readable data, a feature not offered by the state’s existing transparency site called PennWATCH. The state Office of Administration is also mandated to help agencies find their most valuable data sets.

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What is shadow lobbying? How influence peddlers shape policy in the dark

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Sunlight Foundation: Earlier this year, we asked you to help us find out which Democratic superdelegates are also lobbyists. We didn’t want to limit it to just registered lobbyists, because there’s an increasing number of people in Washington who do what most of us would think of as lobbying activity, but avoid registering — known as “shadow lobbyists.” 

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Wisconsin board knew public records changes were ‘significant’

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The state Public Records Board used contradictory messages to describe its decision last summer to expand what kinds of records could be destroyed immediately.

To the public and news organizations, the message was: The board made a routine clarification that was not "substantive." That was the explanation given by Matthew Blessing, the board's chairman, in downplaying why the board did not even give advance public notice by putting the matter on its Aug. 24 agenda.

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Kentucky to pay papers nearly $700K to settle open records suit

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Kentucky will pay the state's two largest newspapers nearly $700,000 to settle a long-running dispute over access to records of child abuse deaths and serious injuries.

The agreement ends seven years of litigation that resulted in far-reaching public access to state social service records in cases where children die or are seriously injured by abuse or neglect.

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South Carolina high court rules prosecutors’ dispute should be made public

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South Carolina’s high court has shed light on documents in a dispute between Attorney General Alan Wilson and a special prosecutor he appointed to oversee a legislative corruption investigation.

Unsealed late Thursday were papers that Wilson had filed in response to Solicitor David Pascoe.

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Editorial: Alabama Governor ran on ‘transparency’ but now demands silence

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Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley rolled into office on the promise of "transparency."

"Transparency promotes government accountability, and as elected officials, we are held accountable for our decisions by the people we serve," he said. It was like his motto.

Alabama "deserves transparency in everything we do." Yep.

''If you have things to hide, then maybe you're doing things wrong."

''I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.'' '

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