Transparency News 2/5/16

Friday, February 5, 2016

State and Local Stories

Yesterday, the FOIA subcommittee of the House General Laws Committee unanimously advanced a bill aimed at counteracting a surprise ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court last fall that undercut the act’s requirement to redact documents where possible. The language was worked out with the media, VCOG and local government all agreeing that the duty to redact should be preserved. Opposition came from an association of commonwealth’s attorneys who felt the change would require them and other law enforcement agencies to parse through their investigative files. While VCOG wouldn’t think that was such a bad idea, the bill applies to FOIA’s other exemptions, but does not affect the section of FOIA dealing directly with access to law enforcement records.

The subcommittee also left intact a provision that undoes the Supreme Court’s finding that courts should afford “great weight” to officials’ reasons for why they claim a record is exempt.

Now, while that’s all well and good, bills we strongly oppose still survive: Two would shutter certain salary data (SB 552) and prohibiting the publication of salary databases (SB 202); one related to critical infrastructure, which includes an unprecedented mechanism for letting third parties (i.e., private companies) object to a government’s decision to release records in his/her discretion. (SB 645)

If you can please call the members of the full General Laws Committee to express your opinion. And consider doing to Richmond Monday afternoon to tell them in person!

A Virginia legislative committee has defeated a measure that sought to prohibit officials from using execution drugs they received from another state if they don’t reveal the source of the drugs. Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell’s bill was voted down by the Senate Education and Health Committee on Thursday. Surovell introduced his bill in response to the state’s use of lethal injection drugs from Texas to execute convicted serial killer Alfredo Prieto in October. Texas is among several states that allow officials not to disclose where they got the drugs.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly

National Stories

Michigan state officials were aware of an increase in Legionnaires’ disease cases and a possible tie to Flint’s troubled water supply at least 10 months before Gov. Rick Snyder informed the public of the situation last month, newly obtained emails show. The emails, obtained through a public records request by Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group, indicate that county health officials were concerned last March about a wave of Legionnaires’ cases, and were at the time raising the possibility of a connection to the city’s switch to a new water source, the Flint River. “Essentially,” the county health officials are “putting up the flare” and asserting that the “uptick in cases is directly attributable to the river as a drinking water source,” said an official at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in an email to his state colleagues March 13.
New York Times

The State Department has discovered a dozen emails containing classified information that were sent to the personal email accounts of Colin L. Powell and close aides of Condoleezza Rice during their tenures as secretaries of state for President George W. Bush. Two emails were sent to Mr. Powell’s personal account, and 10 to personal accounts of Ms. Rice’s senior aides. Those emails have now been classified as “confidential” or “secret” as part of a review process that has resulted in similar “upgrades” of information sent through the personal email server that Hillary Clinton used while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. The State Department did not say who sent the emails to Mr. Powell or to Ms. Rice’s aides, or who received the messages.
New York Times

In a debate that could reshape how the state handles its Sunshine laws, Florida lawmakers are swiftly advancing a bill that proponents say will crack down on “economic terrorists” that are abusing state law by extorting money from governments through frivolous and misleading public records requests. But opponents say the solution is an overreaction that will “gut” the state’s open records laws and permanently cloud its Sunshine Law tradition. They warn that the bill removes the only tool the public has to seek redress when government officials violate the state’s public records laws and have offered a compromise that is being rejected.
Miami Herald

Editorials/Columns

When public bodies such as boards of supervisors or school boards vote to enter executive session, Virginia law requires they designate the specific section of the code under which they’re entering closed session. During that closed-to-the-public portion of a meeting, the participants can only discuss what they cited in open session as their topic. After ending the executive session, they then convene openly and take a certification vote to officially say they only discussed that topic and nothing else. The vast majority of the time, that’s the case. And the hundreds of public bodies subject to FOIA have a good track record of adhering to the act’s standards. But not always. That’s why Del. Rick Morris, a Republican who represents Isle of Wight County, has introduced House Bill 800. Morris’ legislation would require bodies to record and to take minutes of these closed-door meetings. They would not be public, obviously, but would be subject to court-ordered turn over if there is a dispute whether the local body obeyed the law.
News & Advance

In recent editorials, we have expressed strong opinions about the State Senate's decision to kick reporters off the floor of the chamber and about the state Republican party demanding that voters sign a "loyalty oath" before participating in the March 1 Virginia GOP primary. Good to see that both issues were resolved appropriately. After two weeks of exile in a remote balcony, the press corps returned this week to a spot on the Senate floor. Media will have a little less space than before, but will once again have close access to the state's business.
Daily Press

In the wake of the ethics scandal that took down former Gov. Bob McDonnell, his successor, Terry McAuliffe, drew a bright red line. Right after being sworn into office he signed an executive order that capped gifts to himself, his family, and his administration at $100. That hard rule is starting to look a bit rubbery.
Richmond Times-Dispatch