We must expand government transparency, not enable secrecy

SB 155 is a bill that I have fought against since the beginning of this session and most of us thought was not coming back after major public opposition. This bill will allow the State of Delaware to deny FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests by the public that it believes are “unreasonable, disruptive, or abusive.”

Under this bill, any school board, city government, State government, or other public body can simply state that the request for information is unreasonable, disruptive, or abusive to avoid providing information about financial records, conversations not on public record, or any record from a State agency.

FOIA is the mechanism by which the public and press request information from their government. FOIA laws have often been instrumental in checking governmental power and uncovering instances of abuse, neglect, and inefficiency.

Open government advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware and Delaware Coalition for Open Government opposed this bill in the Senate Committee hearing last year.

Javonne Rich, policy and advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, argued that the bill “contradicts the purpose and spirit of FOIA, which is to promote open government and transparency, as well as allow the public to monitor the performance and decisions that are made by governmental bodies.”

John Flaherty, director of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, stated that the allowance for additional administrative fees would “make Delaware one of the most costly states to request public information by ordinary citizens and the news media.”

Please call and email the below Senators and Representatives that are supporting SB 320 and let them know we want a government open to the public.