NewsBeat

August 2018 NewsBeat 15 By JUDY PATRICK Making state FOIL requests just got a bit easier A new online website should make it easier to file records requests under the state's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) but existing obstacles to actually retrieving public information remain. In June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office launched Open FOIL NY, a website that centralizes records requests to 59 state executive agencies and authorities to a single point of access. There are a few more agencies yet to be included but all will eventually be added, said Robert Freeman, executive director of the state's Committee on Open Government. Advocates of open government have praised the Open FOIL NY portal, saying the single website should make filing FOIL requests easier and more efficient for the public as well as journalists. Gone (we hope) are the days of surfing state websites in search of information on filing a FOIL. "It's a critical development," Freeman said. Since its launch, the centralized online portal has become another avenue for securing information from the state, with many state agency web pages highlighting a link back to the Open FOIL NY portal. FOIL requests, it should be noted, may still be filed by email or regular mail directly to applicable state agency. Most everyone who has filed a FOIL request knows how challenging the process can be. Sometimes just determining what agency or entity has the records you want is the problem. Then there's the struggle with determining exactly how to word your request to seek what you're finding. Patience comes next, with the wait for records typically stretching well past deadline. Open FOIL NY does not address those problems although making the initial request phase less complicated is being viewed as a step in the right direction. It allows users to select from a dropdown list of state agencies and apply to three agencies simultaneously. An online tracking system, allowing users to submit, track and receive digital records by creating an Open FOIL NY account, will debut in early 2019, according to the state. For local journalists, there's one big drawback. Open FOIL NY deals only with state records requests, not the much more frequently sought records of local governments. Freeman knows this first-hand. At public speaking events, Freeman will typically ask for a show of hands of people who have filed state or federal FOIL requests. Very few hands rise. But ask about filing a FOIL with a local government or school district and nearly every hand will rise. The Open FOIL NY online form will enable people to request records from up to three agencies at the same time, with the system forwarding the requests to the targeted agency for review. Use of the centralized portal should streamline the process, advocates say. In making the announcement, Cuomo's office also said the project will, over the next year, use new software to process requests more efficiently in part by simplifying collection and review of agency records. The state also says it wants to make it easier to identify frequently requested records and consider proactively releasing them to the public. Some information, such as budgets, agendas and minutes, are already widely available online. But public information advocates would like governments to make far more information automatically available, bypassing the need for a FOIL to be filed. Stories abound about the reporters who leave their beat, or their employer, before their FOIL is fulfilled. At journalism schools, the problem is compounded by semester time constraints and patience becomes one of the lessons learned. Cailin Brown, chair of the Department of Communications at The College of St. Rose, has worked with students struggling to receive government records for a story on an alleged sexual assault at a campus dormitory. An initial FOIL request was filed in April 2016, and after several more FOILs and appeals, as well as an Article 78 lawsuit against the city on behalf of the student newspaper by an Albany Law professor, the request remains unfulfilled. While the overall response to Open FOIL NY has been positive, the portion of the online FOIL request form that asks the applicant why they are seeking the records has been criticized as obtrusive, unneeded and counter to the existing law. The state says it is gathering the information for statistical purposes. Is your request for scholarly or scientific purposes, personal, for a news story or for a business or non-profit purpose, the form asks. Applicants have no obligation to provide that information, Freeman said, adding that the online form should clearly state that answering the question is optional. openfoil.ny.gov

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