Federal:
Congress recently updated the Freedom of Information Act with the passage of the FOIA Improvement Act. Among the amendments, the new law:
- requires disclosable documents be made available in electronic format;
- includes a Presumption of Openness clause;
- limits FOIA exemption to select records created in the past 25 years;
- establishes a Council to make recommendations for improved compliance and efficiency in processing FOIA requests, enhanced government transparency and compliance, and similar initiatives;
- requires a streamlined online portal for public request submissions; and
- promotes the creation of procedures to identify federal records of general public interest, which will be made electronically available.
For more information, see the District Dispatch.
State:
On June 30th the Illinois General Assembly approved Senate Bill 2047 which is a funding bill affecting FY2016 and FY2017. Read a short summary of how this effects library grant programs, K-12 education, and higher education in this Illinois Library Association article.