Freedom of Information Act overhaul approved by Senate committee
RAW STORY
Published:
Thursday September 21, 2006
Print This Email This Congressional Quarterly reports that a Senate committee has approved a bill to overhaul the Freedom of Information Act.
By voice vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to the bipartisan legislation intended to overhaul the 1966 act, which makes government records "more accessible" to the public. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) developed the bill last year.
According to CQ writer Keith Perine, "Leahy called the bill 'a collection of common-sense modifications designed to update FOIA'" and to speed up processing of requests.
Additionally, per the article, the bill requires the attorney general to notify Congress if a court detects "arbitrary and capricious" rejections of information requests.
Excerpts from the subscription-only article follow...
#
The bill would require the attorney general to notify the Office of Special Counsel and Congress whenever a court finds that government personnel have engaged in "arbitrary and capricious" rejections of FOIA requests.
It also would clarify that the 20-day time limit for government officials to respond to a FOIA request begins on the date a government agency first receives the request. The measure also would require agencies to establish tracking systems for FOIA requests.
...
The bill would prevent independent journalists from being barred from obtaining FOIA fee waivers simply because they are not affiliated with a news organization.
Further, the legislation would clarify that FOIA also applies to private contractors who keep government records.
#
|
