[nfbmi-talk] it's a start but

Terry D. Eagle terrydeagle at yahoo.com
Thu Nov 14 06:42:28 UTC 2013


The question about the number of FOIA requests in other states has had me
wondering what those stats are too, going back to when Cannon was director.
I would like to see a government sunshine information act like Florida has
in place.  It is far reaching and even includes the state court system.  

We need to disinfect government with a strong sunshine transparency act here
in the Great Lakes state, without any watering it down!

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Christine Boone
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 12:21 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] it's a start but

Did it ever occur to any of these public employees that they might not have
so many FOIA requests if they would simply be "open" and straight forward
with the public in the first place?  

I wonder how many FOIA requests are filed in other states?  Do they have as
many per capita as does Michigan?  How do they handle their FOIA requests?
This would be interesting to know.  


Christine

On Nov 13, 2013, at 8:13 AM, joe harcz Comcast <joeharcz at comcast.net> wrote:

> Limits on fees for public records passed by state House committee By
Kathleen Gray Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau Public bodies would be
limited in what
> 
> they could charge for copying public records under the Freedom of
Information Act under a bill passed by a House committee Tuesday. The bill
would allow
> 
> public bodies to charge $0.10 per page for documents requested by anyone
under the Freedom of Information Act. They also could charge labor costs of
up
> 
> to three times the minimum wage in Michigan of $7.40 per hour. "This
represents really good work and really good policy," state Rep. Mike
Shirkey, R-Clarklake,
> 
> who sponsored the bill, said during a hearing before the House Oversight
committee. "It will help make watchdogs out of all of our citizens. The bill
is
> 
> almost universally opposed by public bodies because of the time and cost
associated with filling hundreds of FOIA requests. Even with changes made to
the
> 
> bill that will allow the bodies to raise the per-page charge based on
inflation, they still remain against the bill. When the bills were debated
earlier
> 
> this year, Hamtramck Police Chief Max Garbarino said requiring his
officers to review and fill FOIA requests was taking them off road patrols.
"FOIA is
> 
> very burdensome and this will make it even more so for us," he said.
"Every minute one of my supervisors is reviewing a FOIA tape, it costs us
money and
> 
> takes the officer away from patrol. But media and other citizens looking
for answers from government hailed the bill as a necessary tool. "One of the
most
> 
> significant problems that the public and media have had with FOIA in
recent years has been the explosion of unreasonable labor fee demands from
public
> 
> bodies," said Herschel Fink, attorney for the Detroit Free Press. " Many
of those are intended to discourage FOIA requests. The bill would allow
anyone
> 
> filing a FOIA request to sue public bodies to protest unreasonable labor
costs. "This would give us a tool to use against those kinds of demands
which
> 
> many public bodies have been imposing," Fink said. State Rep. Jim
Townsend, D-Royal Oak, offered amendments that would require charter
schools, public
> 
> school academies and the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, which
is the body that determines an annual fee tacked onto auto insurance bills
to
> 
> cover the health costs of catastrophic car accident victims, to be subject
to the act. The amendments were voted down. The bill, which passed on a 6-0
> 
> vote, now moves to the full House for consideration. 
> 
> 
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