Michigan Legislature's circular path on outdated FOIA amendments

How do you explain the circular path to oblivion that recent proposals to amend Michigan FOIA seem to follow? 

It starts with reintroducing a bill that died in the previous session.  Lobbyists for agencies, municipalities and the like point out the unbearable burden FOIA has imposed.  After awhile, discussions and news coverage dwindle.  The bills slumber, the session ends and the bills expire.

Michigan Municipal League's Nikki Brown said recently that cities need the ability to recover the true costs of FOIA requests.  Her comments accentuate the red herring that opponents fall back on.  Our statute requires a written request, then a response after a search.  Officials decry the cost and inconvenience.

But, with a small investment in software, most public records can be made available without cost or inconvenience simply by posting them online in searchable archives as soon as they are created or acquired.

It's not cost and inconvenience that offends bureaucrats as much as the fear that open access will reveal foolishness, incompetence, wastefulness and crime.

Michigan's outmoded FOIA process needs major revisions to take advantage of new technology for open access to government records without officials playing a gatekeeper role.