Here we are again in "Sunshine" Week, more than a year after a bill was filed in the Michigan House to add the Michigan Legislature to the list of state government functions subject to the state's ancient Freedom of Information Act. That bill expired in December at the end of the previous legislative term.
Another bill, designed to encourage more prompt government responses to FOIA requests and establish lower, uniform retrieval and copying costs, was filed last September. It, too, died at the end of the last legislative term, but was resurrected by Rep. Mike Shirkey at the beginning of the new term in January. Shirkey's bill has had the active support of the Michigan Press Association.
The flaw in both of these proposals to amend Michigan FOIA is that they are based on the old FOIA model, which requires a request to a government unit's "FOIA Coordinator" in order to obtain public information, subjecting the request to the scrutiny, approval and convenience of personnel in that particular unit.
This proactive approach for public access to government records should be adopted by the states.
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