by Carol Thompson

The New York State Freedom of Information Law is undergoing some changes, and one difference residents may notice is that they will no longer be left in the dark at board meetings when officials deliberate on matters with documents in front of them.

The N.Y. State Senate approved legislation that would require state government entities to make available public records that are expected to be discussed at an open meeting, and that are subject to FOIL, at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor David Patterson, although it has yet to be forwarded to him.

The bill will allow the public to know what board members are discussing as it is being discussed at public meetings. In the past, elected officials would typically discuss legislation with paperwork in hand leaving members of the public unsure of what was under discussion.

The Oswego County Legislature’s standing committees often provide paperwork to members only while excluding the public and the press from distribution.

Legislature Chairman Barry Leemann said he would have no problem with the new law. “That’s a great idea,” he said. “I always thought before that everything should be passed out at the meetings.”

The most recent example came Monday when information on the proposed weapons ban for county facilities was passed out to members of the Government and Strategic Planning Committee. No one present other than committee members was given the information.

That leaves anyone wanting the documents to file a request under the Freedom of Information Law and it can be days or even weeks before the information is released.

The state Senate also passed legislation to direct state agencies to consider FOIL when designing their information retrieval systems, whenever practical and reasonable, to increase public access to government documents.

Under this legislation, agencies will be encouraged to implement and compile information in a way that satisfies this new requirement. The bill was signed by Governor Patterson July 21.

The law would require government agencies to place more documents, such as meeting minutes, on the internet for public access when it is practical to do so.

The laws are among several changes in recent years. Former Governor George Pataki signed a bill in 2006 that allows New Yorkers to use e-mail to request most government records.

The most sweeping change to the law, signed by Governor Pataki, allows courts to force local and state governments and school districts to pay attorney fees to any citizen, group, business, or news organizations denied access, even if there is not a broad public interest in the records.

The Freedom of Information Law, passed in 1974, was enacted following the Watergate scandal in Washington.