A coalition of groups that advocate for transparency and open government are urging passage of a handful of bills that would strengthen the state’s Freedom of Information Laws during this year’s celebration of Sunshine Week. 

The coalition includes Common Cause/NY, the League of Women Voters of New York State, the New York Coalition for Open Government and the New York Civil Liberties Union, among many others.

Two of the bills they support just moved in the state Assembly.

The first, S5000 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A1410 (Rosenthal), will make it so that corporations must re-apply for their records to be exempted from FOIL after submitting them to the state. The second bill, S452 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A2321 (McDonald), will require government agencies to report on many FOIL requests they are receiving and closing. This will enable the public to better understand the state of FOIL in New York and see which agencies are struggling to fill requests. 

Two other bills, one to reduce agency FOIL response time (S2520 (Skoufis) / A3425 (Raga)), and one to strengthen FOIL attorneys’ fees (A950-A (Steck) / S1418-A (Liu)), have passed neither house.

Axel Ebermann, president of the New York Coalition for Open Government, discussed the importance of FOIL and Sunshine Week with Capital Tonight.