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FOIA Bills Examined

A number of changes are in the works for Virginia’s open-government laws.  For instance, the General Assembly passed more than a dozen bills earlier this year that would amend the Freedom of Information Act. Other controversial bills were referred to a state advisory council to be studied—and potentially reintroduced in next year's session.

The Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council is now examining legislation that could eliminate the ability of presidents and officials of higher education institutions to invoke FOIA exemptions to avoid providing working papers and correspondence. That bill is sponsored by Delegate David Ramadan.

"We have good universities; they should work in openness just all of our government agencies in the Commonwealth with no exemption. And unfortunately, having a FOIA exemption is causing a lot of bad and negative reputation about some of our great universities because people get used to, 'Ok I have  FOIA exemptions so why should I put this out there?' They start doing things they shouldn't be doing and saying things they shouldn't be saying."

Also, there have been several accounts where a person who submitted a FOIA request to a public body believed that the officials intentionally erected obstacles and delayed the process of providing the information. The council is determining whether an official who willfully violates FOIA provisions should be charged with a class one misdemeanor.

Tommie McNeil is a State Capitol reporter who has been covering Virginia and Virginia politics for more than a decade. He originally hails from Maryland, and also doubles as the evening anchor for 1140 WRVA in Richmond.
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