People suing state for records can recover legal fees easier
Cuomo said he will again forward legislation in the upcoming legislative session that would apply the state freedom of information law equally to the executive and legislative branches.
(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
ALBANY — A new law will make it easier for members of the public suing to obtain information from the state and local governments to recover their legal fees.
Gov. Cuomo, who vetoed a similar measure in 2015, announced on Wednesday that he signed into law a bill heavily supported by government reform groups and newspaper editorial boards.
In signing the bill, which mandates that judges award attorney fees to people or entities forced to sue in cases where a state agency or a local government wrongly denies access to public documents, Cuomo said it would meet a “greater principle of increasing transparency.”
But he reiterated that he still believes the state's freedom of information law should also cover the Legislature, which it currently does not.
Cuomo said he will again forward legislation in the upcoming legislative session that would apply the state freedom of information law equally to the executive and legislative branches. “I call on all stakeholders to join me in this effort,” he said.
The bill signing was widely praised as a win for government transparency from groups on the left and right of the political spectrum.
“By requiring agencies to pay the legal fees of those who successfully challenge a (freedom of information law) denial, this new law will make the process more accessible,” the Empire Center, a conservative fiscal watchdog group, said in a statement. “That means more transparency, openness and accountability-all things we could use more of in New York.”
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the liberal New York Civil Liberties Union, said the new law “sends a strong message that withholding public information from the public comes at a cost. Our democracy will be stronger for it.”
John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, called the new law “a real advance” that “shows us that Albany can move forward and can make government more accountable to the public.”
No comments:
Post a Comment