Authorizes and directs the committee on open government to study proactive disclosure as a means of increasing transparency and access to government information.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
623
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 5, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. KAVANAGH, ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations
and Government Operations
AN ACT authorizing and directing the committee on open government to
study proactive disclosure as a means of increasing transparency and
access to government information
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that the
2 current freedom of information law, enacted in 1977, has served as a
3 critical vehicle under which the public has gained access to records of
4 state and local governmental entities. The legislature further finds
5 that the freedom of information law places the burden on the individual
6 to request information from an agency, but that the use of current
7 information technology, combined with a commitment to proactive disclo-
8 sure, has the potential to provide information to the public to an even
9 greater degree than does the current law.
10 § 2. The New York state committee on open government is hereby author-
11 ized and directed to: (a) study the feasibility of requiring agencies,
12 as defined in subdivision 3 of section 86 of the public officers law, to
13 proactively disclose documents that are available under article 6 of the
14 public officers law; (b) make specific findings and legislative recom-
15 mendations relating to mandatory proactive disclosure by agencies; (c)
16 estimate the costs or savings of proactive disclosure; and (d) report
17 its findings to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and
18 the speaker of the assembly no later than January 31, 2026.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03031-01-3
