Open the books on government
If you missed it, Sunshine Week ended yesterday. It’s not about the vernal equinox (the first day of spring), but the unofficial annual commemoration of open government timed to James Madison’s birthday that has been promoted by the press since 2005. We are all in favor, but the results have sometimes been more befitting of Midnight Week, or actually Permanent Midnight, as governments up and down the ladder resort to secrecy and hiding of public records.
Up in Albany, the Senate and Assembly pat themselves on the back for passing picayune amendments to the state Freedom of Information Law, yet they continue to exempt themselves from the same law.
Some information on legislation is available on a very handy website, but it costs big bucks to subscribe and the free version is much less useful.
The executive branch is no better, witness how the Cuomo administration’s refusal to hand over basic data on nursing homes and COVID ended up in court, and the attendant stalling and delay spurred a scandal and a Department of Justice probe.
City Hall is routinely terrible in living up to the spirit or the letter of the law, despite a mayor who calls himself the most transparent ever.
The bi-state anti-mob New York/New Jersey Waterfront Commission haven’t published their legally mandated annual reports for seven years, which we hadn’t noticed until the Newark Star-Ledger just forced the reports out.
The MTA sits on FOIL requests for years and years, always politely informing requesters that the response time will have to be extended. Their attitude is: Maybe next year, maybe never.
Regarding Washington, this page used the federal Freedom of Information Act seeking documents about the $30 billion Gateway boondoggle from the Trump Department of Transportation and got zippo, but the records started flowing right after Jan. 20.
The state courts continue to refuse to order the release of how much retired NYPD cops make in their government-funded pensions in a case that started more than a decade ago.
As for the federal courts, they charge money for accessing their decisions and rulings, something that Congress must end.
Unless there is a specific law forbidding its release, like an individual’s banking or health records or Grand Jury materials, all these public records belong to the public and should be released without anyone having to ask. The internet now makes it free to disseminate, so start disseminating.