FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT STRENGTHENED IN ILLINOIS

Below is a press release from The Chicago Headline Club

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act has been strengthened, thanks to Gov. Pat Quinn signing revisions to FOIA Aug. 17. Thanks also go to Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who led the effort to make government in Illinois more transparent.

Taking effect Jan. 1, the law “makes state government more accountable to the people we serve,” Quinn said.

“The people of Illinois will now have a greater ability to know what their government is doing,” Madigan said.

The law, for the first time in Illinois, will prevent government officials from ignoring FOI requests. The law formalizes an Illinois public access counselor, who will be authorized to issue decisions on a case-by-case basis, finding that public bodies should or should not release information. People can go to court to seek enforcement of the counselor’s decision. Government bodies that break the law can be fined $2,500 to $5,000.

“We would have preferred bypassing the courts and allowing the counselor to issue fines, but this is a huge step in the right direction,” said Susan S. Stevens, Chicago Headline Club FOI vice president who was among numerous journalists and public interest group representatives who served on the task force Madigan created to revise FOIA.

Another benefit of the law: a reduction from seven days to five the length of time that officials have to provide information. Also in the law: fewer excuses officials have in delaying release of information.

An additional thanks to all of you who wrote Quinn to urge him to sign this legislation, Public Act 96-0542.

You can view the new law at http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/96/096-0542.htm.
The law also requires the governor’s office to maintain a Web site with information on state boards and commissions and implements stricter ethics standards for members of boards and commissions. The sites are: accountability.illinois.gov and appointments.illinois.gov.

“As newspapers continue to struggle economically, as public reliance on blogs and the Internet continues to grow, the burden of being a watchdog on government will increasingly fall to private citizens,” said Southtown Star columnist Phil Kadner, former CHC FOI vp who also was on the task force and had urged Madigan since she took office to work toward a stronger FOIA. “I believe this revised law, which I have advocated for nearly a decade, will give private citizens the weapons they need to do precisely that.”

Still pending: legislation to create a federal Shield Law. CHC and SPJ urge you to contact Sens. Dick Durbin and Roland Burris to urge them to stand fast for this measure.

For more on this and other developments, see www.headlineclub.org.