Lawmakers should end this legislative session by leaving Michiganians a legacy of transparency. Bills waiting for approval by the Senate would make it cheaper and easier to obtain documents under the Freedom of Information Act, and should be passed.
The measure passed the House last March by a 102-8 vote. Obviously, it has broad bipartisan support and meets the test of an issue worthy of lawmakers’ attention.
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Read More… from Michigan lawmakers, leave a legacy of transparency
Forty years ago, the New York State Legislature adopted the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and declared the government needed to be 'responsive and responsible to the public,' but most of all that 'the government is the public's business.'
The Legislature got it right. And 40 years later, it is almost impossible to imagine any citizen arguing against the sentiments expressed in that legislative declaration.
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Read More… from EDITORIAL: Cuomo administration blocks transparency
THE ISSUE: Freedom of Information Act; OUR OPINION: Legislature should make improvements to law a top priority
Do you believe the police should be held accountable when they shoot someone? Do you believe you have a right to know when your county or city council is considering raising your taxes? Do you believe when children die in state custody state agencies should be held accountable?
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Read More… from Lawmakers should ensure public can get information
One of the big misunderstandings about Missouriís Sunshine Law is that somehow this testimony to transparency is a tool reserved solely to advance the interests of the media. Journalists do turn to the law regularly to uncover documents and to discover what goes on behind closed doors. But you can bet lawmakers were thinking more broadly about the interests of the public when this landmark measure was introduced in the General Assembly as Senate Bill 1 in 1973. This, after all, was the year of the Watergate hearings.
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Rhode Island's quasi-public agencies, such as the RI Airport Corporation, RI Resource Recovery Corporation, RIPTA, the RI Turnpike and Bridge Authority and more than a dozen more, perform essential government functions and provide essential services. Equally important as the work they do is their accountability to the public.
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Read More… from Legislation promotes transparent, accountable, effective government
The Pennsylvania Senateís passage last month of SB 444, amending the stateís Right to Know law, was far from a shining example of representative government working in the peopleís best interest.
The vote ó 50-0 ó was instead an inexcusable exercise favoring the government's interest over that of citizens' right to know, proving again that public transparency is the last thing on lawmakers'minds.
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A bill before the state House of Representatives aims to mend gaps in Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know law. It actually may do more harm than good.
The bill was passed by the Senate on Sept. 24. Including today, there are six days left in the legislative session, and Senate Bill 444 is now before the House. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
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Read More… from Editorial: This Right-to-Know bill may set back transparency in PA
A legal challenge over whether documents related to the Florida Legislature's 2012 effort to redraw the state's congressional districts can be made public is now before the state's Supreme Court justices. The first hearing on the matter began Friday.
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Read More… from GOP Redistricting Docs Go Before The Florida Supreme Court
A bitter dispute pitting Republican political consultants against groups who challenged Florida's congressional map spilled out in front of the state's highest court on Friday.
The Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether or not secret evidence should have been used during a landmark redistricting trial. The evidence, which included 31 pages of emails and documents, was reviewed by the judge but has not been made public.
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Read More… from Florida Supreme Court holds testy hearing on secret evidence
When I sat down Tuesday in front of the State Government Committee to testify in support of House Bill 2408, I had no idea what to expect or how warm the group would be to this significant open government legislation.
In my 13 months here, I haven't felt a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings toward the free flow of information between government and the people it serves.
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