Three Must-Pass Transparency Bills
Corrupt, authoritarian governments cloak their actions in secrecy and fear being accountable to the public. Governments committed to creating fairer societies and working for the common good strive for more transparency. Unfortunately, New York State is sliding towards secrecy. The state budget was five weeks late and adopted behind closed doors with minimal public debate or scrutiny. Our Freedom of Information Law is functionally broken, insufferably slow, and followed inconsistently.
The Democratic majority in the Senate and Assembly need to show everyone that New York is better than this by finally passing the same three transparency bills. The Legislature is so close!
Below are three important Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) bills strongly supported by numerous major government watchdog, transparency, and press groups. We thank Speaker Heastie for passing two of these bills this year, and Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins for passing the other last year. We urge the Senate and Assembly to each pass all three bills to underline to New Yorkers your commitment to open government.
Three Must-Pass Transparency Bills
- Report FOIL Activity (S452 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A2321 (McDonald)) – Passed the Assembly in March 2025 and last session.
- Limit Commercial FOIL Exemption (S5000 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A1410 (Rosenthal)) – Passed the Assembly in March 2025 and passed the Senate last session.
- Strengthen FOIL Attorneys’ Fees (A950-A (Steck) / S1418-A (Liu)) – Passed the Senate last session. Currently on the Senate floor calendar.