At the Chicago Tribune, there is an in-depth series and corresponding web site on Illinois' FOIA laws. It highlights one of the most tenuous modern relationships - the one between journalists, government officials, and open government laws.
One article helps to put this issue in context:
A little more than a year after Illinois lawmakers rewrote open records laws promising a new era of transparency and accountability, frustrated mayors, school superintendents and police chiefs are back in Springfield looking to undo many of the provisions.
More than three dozen bills — from minor tweaks to major overhauls — were filed this year to change the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), most with the goal of reducing access to records.
"Look, we are not trying to stop any legitimate claims for information," said Alsip Mayor Patrick Kitching, who asked his state senator to file a bill that could limit the rights of political enemies to inundate agencies with records requests.
"It gets to a point where people in the office can't do the public's business. We've been paralyzed by someone who is using FOIA as a weapon," Kitching said, referring to a stack of 90 records requests his village received one day last year from a former police chief and Village Board candidate locked in a bitter political feud with the mayor.
As state and local budgets look to tighten their belts, open government initiatives have increasingly come under pressure. To read all of the stories check out the link below.
