State House Approves FOIA Request Limitations

By aaroncynic in News on Jun 2, 2011 5:40PM

Under the guise of freeing up time and taxpayer dollars in government, the Illinois House approved a bill that would which would give government more power to delay Freedom of Information Act requests. HB1716 amends the Act and gives government agencies the ability to delay fulfilling requests for a “reasonable time” for “recurrent requestors,” defined as those who make more than 50 requests in a 12 month period. The bill also authorizes government bodies to charge fees for search and retrieval of records and no longer requires the Attorney General’s office to pre-approve refusals of FOI requests.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), told the State Journal-Register the legislation is necessary so requestors can’t “bog down local governments and deprive taxpayers and other inquiries of due consideration.” Attorney General Lisa Madigan flip flopped on the issue, supporting the legislation’s passage after initial opposition. Her Chief of Staff told the Trib’s Clout Street that Madigan believes the provisions limiting access “only affect a tiny number of people” and the bill will relieve a heavy backlog of records cases.

The Better Government Association opposed the measure, pointing out a big loophole in the bill. Policy and government affairs coordinator Emily Miller told the Southtown Star “If someone files seven requests for information in one week, they are labeled a recurrent requester…while a person who realizes you can bundle all seven requests into one FOI request will not be classified as a recurrent requester.” Miller added “we haven’t seen any evidence that recurrent requesters have become so troublesome the law needs to be changed.”