FOIA Expansion Bills Introduced By Sen. Schuitmaker

senatorschuitmaker-4
senatorschuitmaker-4

Senators Tonya Schuitmaker of Lawton and Rick Jones of Grand Ledge are introducing bills to require the Executive and Legislative branches of state government be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The package goes one step farther than the effort in the House, which has proposed a modified and limited version of the law be applied to the legislature. The act requires that upon request, that any citizen can ask for a copy of any public document, and with the advent of new technologies, that includes E-mail and other communications. Michigan is one of only two states where FOIA isn’t in place for the governor and Legislature. The move toward transparency was prompted in part by the Flint water crisis.