FOIA News: FOIA Advisor staff in the public eye

Although the staff of FOIA Advisor is focused on reporting new FOIA developments, we occasionally make the news ourselves in connection with our other FOIA (and non-FOIA) activities. Below is a list of our appearances in the news media during the first quarter of calendar year 2023.

• Ryan Mulvey & Kevin Schmidt, “Federal officials keep using personal emails for government duties,” NY Post, Mar. 18, 2023, Op-ed.

• Sara Fischer, “Government struggles with record FOIA boom,” Axios, Media Trends, Mar. 14, 2023 (quoting Allan Blutstein).

• Kevin Schmidt & Thomas Kimbrell, “Covid Exposed the Damage Done by Certificate-of-Need Rules,” Wall St. J., Feb. 24, 2022, Op-ed.

• Chris Brennan, “Top GOP researcher probing mayoral race,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 17, 2023 (discussing Allan Blutstein’s public records requests).

• Kevin Bogardus, “EPA shutters public records portal,” Greenwire, Feb. 13, 2023 (quoting Allan Blutstein) (full article here).

  Kevin Bogardus, “EPA eyes FOIA tweaks to boost environmental justice,” Greenwire, Jan. 20, 2023 (quoting Allan Blutstein) (full article here).

FOIA News: Momentum building to extend FOIA to Fed reserve banks

By Zach C. Cohen, Bloomberg, Mar. 30, 2023

Senate’s Push for Fed Transparency Gains Support After Bank Failures

Support is growing in Congress for imposing greater transparency requirements on the Federal Reserve as the central bank faces increasing scrutiny for its response to recent bank failures.

Senators Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina and Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, plan to introduce legislation that would subject the Fed to the Freedom of Information Act. A copy of the bill was obtained by Bloomberg News.

“Because of the SVB failure, more people have seen the direct consequences of regulators who take their eye off the ball, and work for the industry instead of on behalf of the public,” Warren said in a brief interview on Capitol Hill.

The Fed’s 12 regional branches are currently exempt from public records requests because they are quasi-private. The proposal would remove that barrier by having them considered federal agencies for the purposes of a FOIA request from a member of Congress

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOL office laboring to handle submitter notice process

Tiny Labor Agency Struggles to Meet Huge Diversity Data Request

• FOIA includes thousands of company diversity reports

• Agency has made errors on non-objector list

By J. Edward Moreno, Bloomberg Law, Mar. 16, 2023

Federal contractors have until March 17 to object to their diversity data being disclosed by the Labor Department as part of an open-records request process that has now taken over six months and has been riddled with delays and errors.

The DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has struggled to produce an accurate list of contractors who don’t object to their workforce diversity data being disclosed in response to a massive Freedom of Information Act request from a journalism nonprofit.

The small subagency that enforces antidiscrimination laws and standards on companies that do business with the government has released lists of non-objectors that contained errors and has rolled over the deadline to object several times. Information from companies that don’t object—such as Oracle Inc. and Laboratory Corp.—will be released first, then the agency will make a call on whether the objections submitted are valid or not.

Read more here.

FOIA News: “Citizen's Guide to the Freedom of Information Act”updated

House Democrats Release a New Citizen's Guide to the Freedom of Information Act

Journalists, educational institutions, nonprofits, private corporations and members of the public make use of the records law.

By Courtney Buble, Gov’t Exec., Mar. 16, 2023

In recognition of Sunshine Week, House Democrats released on Thursday an updated citizen's guide to the Freedom of Information Act. 

The annual Sunshine Week celebrates and champions open government and transparency. Journalists, educational institutions, nonprofits, private corporations and members of the public make use of the records law. 

“American democracy depends on openness for government accountability,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, in a statement. “Committee Democrats are empowering the public by making it easier to access government records with this citizen’s guide to FOIA. By boosting transparency, we offer all citizens the ability to serve as a fundamental check on government officials abusing our democratic institutions.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: 2023 Chief FOIA Officer Reports available

The Attorney General's 2009 FOIA Guidelines require the Chief FOIA Officer (CFO) for each federal agency to submit a report to the Attorney General containing a detailed description of the steps taken by the agency to improve FOIA compliance and transparency. The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy has started to post this CFO reports for 2023, which are available on its webpage here.

FOIA News: One FOIA engine gone, another rises

FOIA Mapper is no more. Launched with great fanfare in 2016, the search engined developed by Max Galka allowed users to search a database of past FOIA requests, as well as a catalog of the government’s systems of records. Mr. Galka did not respond to FOIA Advisor’s request for comment before this post was published.

Perhaps filling part of that void is FOIAengine, a commercial tool in beta testing that allows subscribed users to search agency FOIA logs. When FOIA Advisor was provided access during the first week in March, the engine included logs from about 15 agencies and was word searchable by, among other things, subject, agency, requester name, and requester organization. We found FOIAengine to be user-friendly with a clean interface. What remains unclear from the website is how many more agencies are likely be included (all cabinet agencies, for example?), and whether FOIA logs will be added more regularly than, say, once per year.

FOIA News: OIP Announces Additional Training Dates

OIP Announces Additional FOIA Training Dates

Office of Info. Pol’y, Dep’t of Justice, Mar. 15, 2023

Today, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) announces new dates for FOIA training for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2023.  As part of its responsibility to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA, OIP offers numerous training opportunities throughout the year for agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities. 

These courses are designed to offer training opportunities for personnel from all stages of the FOIA workforce, from new hires to the experienced FOIA professionals or FOIA managers.  OIP will continue to offer virtual training sessions that will be taught in real-time by OIP instructors.  We are pleased to announce these virtual training courses, which are also available on OIP’s Eventbrite page.

The courses and dates scheduled for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2023 are:

Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act
April 4, 2023

Processing a Request from Start to Finish
April 12, 2023

Procedural Requirements and Fees Training
May 3, 2023

Litigation Workshop
May 10, 2023

Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service
May 17, 2023

Exemption 1 and Exemption 7 Training
June 6, 2023

Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training
June 21, 2023

Privacy Considerations Training
July 11, 2023

Continuing FOIA Education
July 12, 2023

Read more here.

FOIA News; AFP Foundation Launches 2023 Sunshine Week Symposium and Webinar

How government transparency and the Freedom of Information Act have transformed society

Americans for Prosperity Foundation, Mar. 13, 2023

On each day of Sunshine Week, AFPF will publish one or two thought-provoking essays. Check back on this page to find the links to all the contributions! On Thursday, March 16, our essayists will come together in a virtual webinar to respond to each other and to answer your questions.   

Register here for the March 16 webinar.

…

This year’s essayists represent a selection of respected leaders with years of experience working toward government accountability and transparency. They each bring differing views and ideas to the table. That sort of intellectual diversity is an important part of finding ideal solutions and building an open society where the marketplace of ideas is respected.   

Our participants include: 

• Ryan Mulvey & James Valvo, Americans for Prosperity Foundation — “The Freedom of Information Act: A testament to the value of transparency” Read full article. 

• Anne Weismann — “Has the Freedom of Information Act lived up to its purpose?” Read full article. 

• Daniel Schuman, Demand Progress 

• Jason R. Baron, University of Maryland 

• David Cuillier, Brechner Freedom of Information Project, University of Florida — “Strengthening FOIA: Time for teeth” Read full article.

• Bernard Bell, Rutgers Law School 

• Lauren Harper, National Security Archive — “How declassification mechanisms and FOIA have ensured vital transparency in the history of American foreign policy” Read full article.  

Read exclusive essays from previous symposia below:

• 2021 – “Restoring accountability: How government transparency empowers Americans to drive change” 

• 2022 – “Reforming FOIA: The best ideas for better government transparency and accountability” 

Read more here.

Register for the webinar here.

FOIA News: Q&A with the OGIS Director

We Make Access Happen: FOIA Q&A with OGIS Director Alina M. Semo

By Victoria Macchi, Nat’l Archives News, Mar. 14, 2023

Sunshine Week (March 12-18) marks the moment every year when researchers, journalists, non-profit groups, and the people who make access to federal records happen spread the word about the importance of open access to public information.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which provides a right of access to federal records, is an important tool for viewing government information.

When Congress amended the FOIA in 2007, it created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), which is part of the National Archives.

This part of the agency is tasked with reviewing FOIA policies, procedures, and compliance across federal agencies, and also with resolving FOIA disputes between federal agencies and requesters.

OGIS Director Alina M. Semo shares with National Archives News why Sunshine Week is important at the National Archives, what FOIA is, and how the National Archives makes access happen in light of so many requests for information.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Vanita Gupta's remarks at DOJ "Sunshine Week" event

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks at the Justice Department's Sunshine Week Celebration

By DOJ, Justice News, Mar. 13, 2023

Thank you, Bobby, for that introduction. And more importantly, thank you for your leadership of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) and the guidance that you provide to the Justice Department and agencies across the federal government to increase compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and to strengthen government transparency. 

So, good morning! Thank you all for joining us for the Department of Justice. It’s our kick-off for Sunshine Week. And this annual event is now in its 13th year. And it’s all the more special today because this is our first time coming together in person since the pandemic to celebrate the importance of the FOIA and the critical role that federal employees, particularly agency FOIA professionals, play in ensuring a transparent, accountable and effective government. 

Read more here.