Hochul’s Resounding “No” on Transparency 

Reinvent Albany is deeply disappointed that the Governor vetoed the only two FOIL bills to pass the Legislature this year. This is yet another setback to government transparency in New York. 

This year, eighteen press, advocacy, and watchdog groups asked the Legislature to pass – and Governor to sign – four bills that would help reduce the often interminable delays and agency obstructionism that keeps government records in New York from the public. 

Vetoed Bills

The first – and most significant – bill would have required agencies to respond to FOIL requests in a more timely manner (S2520-B (Skoufis) / A3425-A (Raga)). As our “Listening to FOIL” report showed, agencies often subject the public to months, if not years, of delays, and with no serious consequences. The Governor had a major opportunity to overhaul FOIL this year, and decided she was not interested.

The second bill, vetoed this past weekend, would correct the persistent wrongheadness of the First Department of the NY Appellate Division, which has consistently been misreading FOIL (S67 (Skoufis) / A6613 (McDonald)). The Governor stated in her veto message that the bill was duplicative. While she’s technically correct that the bill repeats current law, the Governor omitted the history of bad court decisions that led to the bill being drafted in the first place. To add insult to injury, this bill was written by the executive branch’s own Committee on Open Government. This veto sends a message that when the courts ignore the law, the executive will look the other way.

The Governor’s vetoes are especially frustrating, and disturbing, to transparency advocates because Governor Hochul is not doing or proposing anything to address the massive problems with New York’s Freedom of Information process. The old saying is “lead or get out of the way.” When it comes to transparency in New York, Governor Hochul is becoming the problem, not the solution. We hope that changes.