Tell Gov. Quinn to defend Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act!
In their final workdays in May, lawmakers in Springfield approved a rollback to the state’s open records law, known as the Freedom of Information Act. This important state law is designed to guarantee residents have access to government records – after all, they’re funded by you, the taxpayer!
But the bill that lawmakers approved – House Bill 1716 – would roll back the public’s ability to access records in a timely fashion.
Gov. Quinn has the ability to stop this plan! Send him a note asking him to reject HB 1716.
This bill would create a subclass of “recurrent requestors” in which residents who pose multiple requests for documents would be placed. Once an individual is placed in this new category, governments would have no deadline to provide the requested public documents.
The plan also would allow public bodies to charge individuals who are requesting documents for business purposes a bunch of new fees. But some of those costs wouldn’t have to be disclosed up front, nor would they be limited.
Gov. Quinn is a longtime advocate of open government, but he needs to hear from you!
