As part of Sunshine week, on March 11, 2024, the Alliance joined a letter with a coalition of groups urging the New York legislature and Governor Hochul to pass a package of legislation that would strengthen New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). The letter outlines the importance of greater transparency and timely access to records for the public. The package of bills supported would strengthen FOIL through numerous ways, including by setting reasonable timelines on records requests, requiring annual reporting by agencies on FOIL data, closing a loophole that allows businesses to permanently exempt certain records, and making it easier to recover attorneys’ fees when successfully litigating a wrongful FOIL denial.
Charlotte McBirney is Senior Counsel and Director, Public Policy for the News/Media Alliance.
