Proposed legislation would increase government transparency | Top Story | thedailynewsonline.com – The Daily News Online

ALBANY Two proposed measures in the state Legislature would amend New Yorks Open Meetings Law and ensure municipalities provide proper access to public documents and data especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

Bill No. A.1228/S.01150 would require all documents used or discussed during a public municipal meeting to be posted online at least 24 hours beforehand. It would also require municipalities to stream the meeting on the governmental bodys website to a practicable extent, post a video of the meeting on its website within five business days, and require the public body to keep recordings for at least five years.

Instead [the phrase] has been used as a way to abate the law, bill sponsor Assemblymember Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, said Monday. There cant be that many times where its not practicable to make those documents available. We want to have documents available because the public is smart and the public can offer insightful views that help steer the public process in a positive way. They can only offer insightful views if they have information on which to judge.

Current law requires public bodies as best as practicable to post meeting documents online prior to a meeting occurring. Paulins legislation removes the as best as practicable language and mandates any public body with a website to post meeting documents online.

The bill was referred to the Governmental Operations Committee on Jan. 7.

A.4677/S.4863 eliminates the fee government and public agencies charge people for obtaining records through a Freedom Of Information Law request when a digital copy exists.

The public should not be charged, New York Coalition For Open Government President Paul Wolf said of officials sending documents electronically. That speaks to making sure the public has access to information and can be a valuable player in government.

The bill was referred to Governmental Operations on Feb. 4.

Current law allows government officials to charge a per-page copying fee. Many records are now available in an electronic format and can be provided without the need to make photocopies.

Sen. Anna Kaplan, D-Carle Place, co-sponsors both bills in the Senate.

Public bodies are evading it thats the impetus, Paulin said.

Many New Yorkers have started to watch or engage with video recordings of public meetings online especially after the majority of municipal meetings were held digitally since the coronavirus pandemic started last March.

So many people are paying attention now you dont want to lose that, she said.

Paulin served as a local elected municipal official and president of a chapter of the League of Women Voters being elected to the state Legislature, she said, and recalled attending a meeting in person, but not being given a copy of the discussed materials.

Not only could you not follow along, you could only tell what [they] were talking about when the information was discussed, she said.

Paulin discussed the proposed measures with New Yorks Coalition For Open Government during a virtual press conference Monday to mark the start of Sunshine Week a mid-March tradition to highlight the importance of government transparency, the press and organizations or groups that advocate for governmental accountability and the swift release of public records.

It coincides with National Freedom of Information Day on March 16 and James Madisons birthday, today.

Sunshine Week was started in March 2005, by the American Society of News Editors to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy, according to the coalition.

One of the complaints is there is a lack of penalties or lack of enforcement and it is different in other states when citizens file a complaint, Wolf said. He added that in some areas, the state attorney general will investigate or can fine elected officials who impede a FOIL request.

In New York, no entity has such enforcement, he said. Hopefully, we can build some momentum with the passage of these bills and thats something we can strive toward.

State lawmakers will likely pass the measures later this session, Paulin said, as representatives remain preoccupied with the 2021-22 Fiscal Year budget due April 1.

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Proposed legislation would increase government transparency | Top Story | thedailynewsonline.com - The Daily News Online