From the Chicago Tribune:
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.
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Filed under: 3. Access law Tagged: | Freedom of information legislation, Illinois
