08/05/07

Senate approves measure to extend Freedom of Information requirements

By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Friday unanimously approved a measure that would extend the open-government requirements of the Freedom of Information Act to private contractors and increase penalties for federal agencies that do not comply.

The voice vote advanced the bill to the House.

Advocates said the bill would make it easier for people who seek information from the labyrinth of federal government.

"FOIA will still be far from perfect with these changes, but they do provide important new tools that will help requesters get public information faster and hold agencies more accountable when they don't comply with the law," said Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for The Associated Press.

If passed by the House, the legislation would be the first major reform to FOIA in more than a decade.

The act that gave citizens the power to request information from government celebrated its 40th anniversary July 4. But it was a bittersweet landmark, with new research that showed that those seeking data continue to encounter long delays despite a 2005 order by President Bush to clear the unanswered backlog.

Sens. Patrick Leahy and John Cornyn, R-Texas, sponsored the legislation to speed agency responses and compel the government to more accurately track pending requests. The legislation was blocked from a floor vote for months because Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and the Justice Department objected to several provisions.

One would have allowed requesters who file lawsuits to recover their attorney fees. Under the compromise, a requester would be able to recover the fees unless the claim is found to be "wholly insubstantial."

Kyl and Justice also objected to a provision that would prohibit agencies from using some of the law's exemptions if a 20-day deadline was missed, but Leahy and House backers of the bill have agreed to delete that in favor of a provision that would prohibit charging fees for late responses.

The bill also would create an office of government information services in the National Archives and create an ombudsman to mediate FOIA disputes. Each agency also would be required to appoint a chief FOIA officer to monitor compliance with requests and a FOIA public liaison to resolve disputes.

Other provisions would extend FOIA compliance to private contractors who keep records on government work and would protect fee waivers for "legitimate journalists, regardless of institutional association." That means waivers would apply to bloggers and others based on the Internet.

The legislation also would start the 20-day clock for agency action when the request is received.