Is Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) still in good shape after all the punishment it took from legislators this session? A story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette yesterday details all of the changes to the state’s FOIA this session. From the story: Before Arkansas lawmakers left Little Rock on Monday, they approved at least 10 amendments to the state's … [Read more...]
Top Ten Reasons That University Lobbyists Want SB 373
If you've been following the final days of Arkansas's legislative session, you know that taxpayer-funded lobbyists have been pushing hard to narrow the scope of the state's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) through SB 373. It's been an embarrassing session for state university lobbyists in particular, who explained to credulous legislators that FOIA-shrinking legislation was … [Read more...]
Bob Ballinger’s Attack on “The Media” Misfires
Recently, we published a summary of a bombshell front-page story by Lisa Hammersly in Friday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: the bottom line is that taxpayer-funded lobbyists for our state university system appear to have misled the legislature – by complaining about a non-problem caused by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Regrettably, even though the legislature has almost … [Read more...]
Killing The FOIA To Fix A Problem That Doesn’t Exist
Are legislators attempting to fix a problem that doesn’t even exist? According to a front-page story in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, it would appear that the legislature is on the verge of doing just that with Senate Bill 373. This bill would create a huge new exemption in the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for attorney-client communications and work … [Read more...]
House Passes Legislation Gutting FOIA
The Arkansas House celebrated the end of Sunshine Week by passing a gigantic exemption to the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) late Monday afternoon. Senate Bill 373 by state Sen. Bart Hester and state Rep. Bob Ballinger would create a new FOIA exemption for “attorney-client communications and work product strictly related to pending or threatened … [Read more...]
