Independent State Agency Reviewed 3400 Open Government Issues Last Year

Take my word for it, I don't obsess over Illinois open records and meetings issues, although my last two blog posts might suggest otherwise.  And now comes the third.

By coincidence, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan just released some interesting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA) statistics.

It was reported yesterday (Friday, 3-14-14) that the Illinois AG's Public Access Bureau (PAB) handled 3400 open government cases last year. Can anybody show me an independent government office in Michigan with a record anything like that?

PAB also conducted 35 training sessions for the public and government personnel during 2013.

These activities are examples of major reforms adopted in Illinois in 2009.  Attempts at reform in Michigan have been stalled for years.