Sign it, governor — Page 1 — TimesUnion.com
    A stronger state Freedom of Information Law will serve the public’s right to know

    It’s been nearly a month since Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, joined with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, in support of a stronger Freedom of Information Law for New York state. By last week, a compromise bill had moved quickly through the Legislature. But as of yet, Gov. Pataki has not signed the bill into law. We urge him to do so before the Legislature breaks for its summer recess this week.

    A stronger FOI law is needed to improve on legislation, passed last year, that set strict limits for public agencies to comply with FOI requests. Until then, agencies had wide latitude in determining when to act on a request. That gave them a license to deny requests by stalling them to death. The Legislature wisely adopted, and the governor signed, legislation that imposed a strict 20-day deadline for agencies to respond.

    But as welcome as last year’s law was, it contained a flaw. While it allowed petitioners to go to court if an agency hadn’t met the 20-day deadline, or had denied a request, it also placed the burden squarely on the shoulders of those seeking access to public information. A petitioner had to hire an attorney to plead the case, and bear other legal expenses. For large organizations, such as the press, these costs were manageable. But for individuals with ordinary means, the prospect of going to court might be costly enough to discourage a suit. Thus, a large segment of New Yorkers would be denied their right to a day in court.

That whole last paragraph needs to be re-written.
The burden should be on the state to give to the people the information they want thru the Freedon of information Act.

They all know how to hide the info from us and this practice has got to stop. Pataki needs to sign it but at the same time amend it to read that it is their responsibility to give the info within 20 days otherwise they will be held in contempt, or something like that.. I’m not a lawyer.