[nfbmi-talk] Legislative Update

[Joe Sontag]

I'll be contacting my Rep. and Senator very soon; just have to study the 
proposed bill a little bit.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2012 4:41
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Legislative Update


> LSJ editorial
> Sep 17, 2012
>
> FOIA updates will benefit Michigan citizens Changes would slow high 
> charges
>
> | . A bill introduced last week in the Michigan House would take some 
> strong
> steps toward improving citizen access to government records and deserves
> bipartisan support. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, introduced HB 5879, several
> amendments to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act that would limit the
> fees government agencies can charge for copying records and increase fines
> charged to governmental units that fail to comply with the act. Among
> improvements: Governmental organizations would be limited to charging 10
> cents per page for copying records. This would send a clear signal that
> citizens requesting public records are not a source of revenue for
> beleaguered government coffers. Currently, copying fees vary wildly. A
> legislated limit makes the rules more clear for all involved. The current
> law allows citizens to inspect records in person without paying copying
> fees; yet some government offices have started to make copies - and charge
> for them - during in-person inspections. The bill clarifies that such
> charges are not allowed unless the citizen asking to see the documents
> specifically requests copies. The bill adds provisions allowing requesters
> to appeal in Circuit Court to have other fees associated with their 
> requests
> lowered. Such fees include the cost of locating the records, reviewing the
> records and separating exempt information from the nonexempt information.
> Even though the existing FOIA requires that charges be based on the hourly
> wage of the lowest paid public body employee capable of retrieving
> information to comply with the request, this is another area where fees
> often vary wildly. No doubt more specific limits or restrictions on the
> front end would be favored by some open records advocates. Shirkey's bill 
> at
> least makes a start in addressing the growing problem of high charges for
> reviewing records to separate exempted information. The bill increases
> pressure on governmental units to provide data within existing time limits
> by adding penalties when they don't. For each day late on responding, the
> agency would be required to reduce fees by 20 percent. And the bill would
> increase the penalty for arbitrarily and capriciously denying a request 
> from
> $500 to $5,000 - another change that adds some teeth. This will stop 
> erosion
> of citizens' rights by eliminating practices some have used to make it 
> more
> difficult for citizens to access public records. It deserves passage.
>
>
>
>
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