![]() Fundamental issues with the law itself are being exploited to keep government secrets – well, secret.Īs I see it, there are four major issues with Maine’s FOAA law.ġ) There is no time requirement for a request to be fulfilled 2) There is no cap on how much can be charged to obtain government information 3) The agencies which possess the requested materials are the ones fulfilling the requests rather than a disinterested third party and 4) Compliance isn’t a priority – staffing issues and turnover within departments result in delayed results. The cost estimates have spiraled out of control. Routine requests that should take a matter of weeks instead take several months or more. ![]() In the last few years, the FOAA process has been unnavigable. ![]() While the LePage administration’s attempts to flout FOAA requests from the media were wrong, just because the current chief executive doesn’t have such a combative relationship with the media doesn’t mean the law is being followed as it should. If only the governor was willing to hold her own administration to that standard. “As the chief law enforcement officer for the state and as a chief advisor on Freedom of Access issues, I must insist that you release this report to all who request it immediately,” Mills wrote at the time. ![]() Some may remember when, as attorney general, Mills wrote a scathing open letter chiding LePage for not releasing the so-called Alexander report, a taxpayer-funded study of Maine’s Medicaid program, in a timely manner – 22 days had passed – after numerous public records requests. It almost seems as if government offices have been instructed by the chief executive to slow-walk the process and price requestors out of the information they seek. Struggles are a regular occurrence under the Mills administration. Rarely did we struggle to get information from the government under Govs. In Maine Policy Institute’s 20-plus years of experience submitting FOAA requests, state government’s compliance has never been as poor as it is today. Regardless, this timeline has taken a real beating under the Mills administration. In my experience, most requests take somewhere between 30 and 90 days to be fulfilled, though some departments take longer than others. SKIES GRAY, AND TRANSPARENCY UNDER ATTACK It empowers the government to sit on state secrets – not citizens to uncover them – and is in desperate need of immediate reform. Simple as the process should be, Maine’s FOAA law is broken. Once the bill is paid, the documents are turned over to the requestor.Įstimates can vary substantially depending on what material is being requested and whether it’s broad or narrow in scope, as a government employee must formally review the documents to determine if they contain exempted information. Then that entity searches for and reviews the requested materials (if they exist) and provides the requestor a time and cost estimate to fulfill the request. That entity is required to respond and acknowledge receipt of the request within five days. The way FOAA works is simple: A citizen submits a records request to a government entity. While more than 300 exceptions exist to what defines a public record in law, FOAA still provides the only means for citizens to ensure transparency and hold government accountable in Maine – particularly for actions that occur behind closed doors and away from prying eyes. Under FOAA, anyone can request access to documents, communications and other materials possessed by elected officials, bureaucrats and other public employees.
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