FOIA Talking Points

What This Bill Does:

• Provides that records from a public agency be available for inspection.
• Mandates that a custodian of public records must honor a request for records, whether it     is made in person, over the telephone, or in writing.
• Does not require the requestor to disclose the reason for the request.
• Allows the legislature to specifically exempt certain items from inspection.
• Allows the agency to charge reasonable fees for documents.
• If a public employee won''''t give out records, that person must state in writing the basis and reasons for any exemption, including the statutory citation. 

State FOIAs allow the average person to hold government accountable:

• If a government agency knows about pollution or environmental damage, the public should also have that information.
• Citizens have a right to know what the government is doing. 
• Citizens want to know—the Enron scandal shows that the public wants to know what is happening behind the closed doors of government. 
• Congress and other public agencies, along with citizens, are demanding that the Vice-President release documents created in secret meetings with Enron.
• Government information is a public resource, it is not a commodity to be taxed and sold.
• You paid for government records with tax dollars, you have a right to see them.

The Benefits of This Legislation:

• Although multifaceted, this legislation provides the best example of a practical, comprehensive, and user-friendly public records law. 
• At the same time, this bill is flexible because it allows for exemptions to public access to records to be created by the legislature as considered necessary. 
• Open records allow us to make an informed vote.
• When government is secret, we cannot follow through with the responsibilities we all have as citizens.
• When government is secret, we cannot make the informed decisions that affect our life, family, community and nation.

According to OMB Watch:

• An informed public is critical to the effective functioning of a democracy.
• The public’s ability to participate in democracy depends upon being informed.
• Our constitutional freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition all depend upon broad access to all relevant information.
• The functioning of a free press depends on availability of accurate information.
• Information is an essential public policy tool, supplementing but not supplanting government’s authority.

National Security And Privacy Will Not Be Affected:

• State laws already in place carefully balance the public’s right to know with the government’s responsibility to protect its citizens. 
• All classified documents are safeguarded from open records requests and will not be made available to the public. 
• Further, many documents are likely to be included (or are already included) within a state’s exemptions to access, such as Florida’s exemption to active criminal investigative and intelligence information. 
• Additional security concerns are carefully considered and implemented by our lawmakers as needed. 

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