House looks to send FOIA reform to Obama’s desk

Mario Trujillo, The Hill, June 13, 2016

Legislation to expand the public’s access to open records is nearing President Obama’s desk. 

The House on Monday evening is slated to take up the Senate’s version of reform to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which the upper chamber passed in March.  

The House approved its own version in January, too. But instead of merging the bills in a conference committee, the House has decided to take up the Senate version to send to the White House. 

Various agencies, including the Justice Department, have lobbied against the changes in previous years. But the White House said it would sign the bill after the Senate hashed out a deal to bring skeptical senators on board back in March. 

"If the president receives this bill, he'll sign it," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), one of the sponsors, said at the time.

Read more here.  

A copy of the Senate's FOIA bill is here.