22-03-2025
NY transparency groups celebrate two 'Sunshine Week' wins
New York state transparency advocates scored a pair of victories in Albany in a week set aside each year to highlight the need for reforms to shine a light on the inner-workings of government.
Reinvent Albany joined 18 other watchdog, transparency and journalism groups on Friday in celebrating the approval by the New York Assembly of two bills designed to strengthen the state's Freedom of Information Law.
The bill passed by the assembly would require corporations to re-apply for their records to be exempted from FOIL after they are submitted to the state. The piece of legislation would change the current setup, which allows corporations to ask the state to have their records exempted from FOIL permanently.
Reinvent Albany and the other groups support change, arguing that the public should have the right to see how much the state pays for services and whether investments of public money in private projects offer adequate returns for taxpayers.
The second bill passed by the assembly would require government agencies to report on many FOIL requests they are receiving and closing. Good government advocates argue such a system is needed to enable the public to better understand the state of FOIL in NY and see which agencies are struggling to fill requests.
Both bills were approved by the assembly this week, recognized nationwide as Sunshine Week, a collaborative campaign organized by journalists, news outlets, civic organizations and educational groups to highlight the importance of public records and open government.
Both measures will require state senate approval and Gov. Kathy Hochul's approval before they can become law.
'Reinvent Albany thanks the New York State Assembly for leading on two bills strengthening the state's Freedom of Information Law. We urge the Senate to pass both of these bills quickly and help persuade the governor to sign them,' the non-profit group said in a press release issued on Friday.
Two other FOIL bills still have not passed either house of the state legislature, yet remain on good government groups' list of priorities, including one that would reduce the amount of time agencies are allowed to respond to FOIL requests and another that would strengthen provisions for compensating attorneys that are involved in successful FOIL-related cases.
