AMY PAULIN IN THE NEWS
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Strengthening FOIL: New Law Will Help Public
[The Ithaca Journal]
The public's right-to-know was strengthened last week when Gov. David Paterson signed into law a bill that makes government agencies pay for legal costs if a person has to sue to get records, or to get access to meetings, under the state's Freedom of Information Law.
Such laws serve the best interest of citizens and force government entities to comply with FOIL. Under the bill, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, and Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, government agencies that lose lawsuits related to FOIL requests pay the (reasonable) legal fees.
By signing this law, Paterson has cleared a major hurdle for citizens who wish to obtain public information or attend public meetings. Before the law's passage, those who felt they were wrongly denied access to records or meetings under FOIL had to pay the legal fees themselves if they wanted to press the issue in the courts. This created a major roadblock for citizens, as only those who could afford to pay up to thousands of dollars in legal fees could press the issue. Governments could deny requests and not have to worry about citizens bringing the matter to the courts.
Robert Freeman, the executive director of the state's Committee on Open Government, said this will deter government agencies from violating the state's Open Meetings Law, according to Gannett News Service. Paulin said, “When government is required to be more open and accountable, it benefits everyone. It helps restore the people's confidence in the public process.” We agree.
There is more work in Albany to be done on this topic, though. Paterson needs to sign into law bills that would force governments to produce agendas and other documents 72 hours in advance of meetings and a bill that would create more online access to public records while also keeping up-to-date lists of which records they keep.
Strengthening FOIL serves the public's interest. That's why Paterson and the Legislature should be congratulated for ushering in one FOIL-related law this year. But it's also why the other FOIL-related bills should be signed into law, too.