Transparency News 1/17/19

Thursday
January 17, 2019

Follow the bills that VCOG follows on our annual legislative bill chart.

General Assembly update

Yesterday at the General Assembly, two marijuana legalization bills that had FOIA exemptions baked into them were defeated in a subcommittee of the House Courts of Justice Committee. As you might imagine, the FOIA part of it was not exactly the focal point.

A subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee unanimously defeated a bill that would have required a 21-day advance notice of incentives granted in economic development deals -- including any concessions under FOIA. VCOG supported the measure and testified on its behalf.

The same subcommittee advanced an economic development grant fund with Micron. There is a blanket FOIA exclusion (meaning the records aren't subject to FOIA, versus being exempt from disclosure -- which is discretionary -- under FOIA), and VCOG has talked with the patron about changing the language to protect only that information that other grant funds exempt.

Today, there will be a Senate subcommittee hearing on the two Senate bills that would require public comment at university board meetings when there is a proposal to raise tuition.

The House General Laws Committee will consider the one remaining House bill that would exempt lottery winners' names. This one would apply only to $10 million winners, a pretty small number of people.

Standing committtes are streamed by the General Assembly
Senate committee scheudles
House committee schedules

Some subcommittees are streamed by Progress Virginia at EyesonRichmond.org

And follow the progress of the bills VCOG follows on our auunual legislative bill chart. There's a little-known tab at the bottom of this chart that -- when clicked -- shows which bills are in which committees.

stories of national interest

Effective December 28, 2018, the Michigan Legislature approved two important amendments to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Public Act 523 added a new requirement to Section 3 regarding the information that must be included in a FOIA request. In addition, Act 523 amended Section 4 to address what happens when a requester does not pay a deposit in a timely manner. Section 3 of the FOIA now requires that the requesting person must include that person’s complete name, address, and contact information, and, if the request is made by a person other than an individual, the complete name, address, and contact information of the person’s agent who is an individual. 
Lexology

Shop Talk panelist Jasmine Crighton said she recently filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with Western Illinois University.  Crighton told the Shop Talk panel she filed the FOIA to obtain data her students might use for a story. She also filed the request so that she could talk about the FOIA process with her students.  She was surprised by what happened next. Crighton said a university representative emailed to ask what she planned to do with the data.  Crighton was taken aback by the email because government agencies are not supposed to ask why someone is asking for information. They should either honor the request or deny it – and if they deny it, they should cite the section of the FOIA law that allows them to turn down the request. Crighton said her request should have been a routine FOIA.  Instead it turned into a different lesson she can share with her students.
Tri States Public Radio