Senate Passage of FOIA Reform Bill Sets the Stage for President’s Signature

As one of its last actions in a late night session before departing for the congressional recess, the Senate passed The OPEN Government Act (S. 849), the first meaningful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill in over a decade. After months of inaction on the bill due to a hold by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), last minute negotiations between Sen. Kyl and the sponsors, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX), resulted in a compromise bill passed by unanimous consent. In March, the House approved a nearly identical bill (H.R. 1309) by an overwhelming vote of 308-117.

NAA believes strong editorial coverage by member newspapers kept Congress focused on this important issue, especially during Sen. Kyl’s hold. NAA is delighted to have a meaningful FOIA reform bill on its way to becoming law, and we are grateful for the support that we received by individual member newspapers during the legislative process.

In the hours leading up to the Senate vote, representatives of the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a media coalition spearheaded by the Associated Press and the NAA to promote open government policies, participated in lengthy discussions with staff from Sens. Kyl’s and Leahy’s offices to protect important provisions of S. 849. NAA is particularly grateful to Sens. Leahy and Cornyn for their steadfast leadership during these negotiations.

S. 849 makes simple, common sense reforms to the way federal agencies process requests for documents under FOIA. Among its improvements, the legislation:

• creates a tracking system and hotline for requesters;
• restores meaningful deadlines for agency action and imposes real consequences on federal agencies for missing statutory deadlines;
• creates an ombudsman to help requesters use FOIA and mediate disputes;
• makes it easier for the public to recover legal fees when requesters must sue for records.

Next Steps: NAA and the Sunshine in Government Initiative is encouraging the House to accept the Senate version of the bill to quickly send this FOIA reform legislation to the President for his signature and avoid a House and Senate conference that could delay the bill’s enactment for several months.

First Published:
August 29, 2007