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Apparently, among the first acts of the Obama Administration is an order to all federal agencies to err on the side of openness when dealing with Freedom of Information Act requests.
In announcing the order, President Obama stated "For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this City."
I hope state and local government here in Illinois follow suit. Making Illinois' Freedom of Information Act stronger is very important, but changing the attitude of many government officials, especially local government officials, in regard to transparency is just as important.
Florida is regarded as the "best" Freedom of Information Act state in the country by many openness advocates and the press. However, the language of the law itself isn't particularly spectacular, it certainly isn't the toughest law on the books. Nevertheless, there is a culture of transparency in Florida which leads to compliance with the spirit of openness laws, namely that information will be handed out unless there is a very good reason to withhold disclosure.
As Illinois moves forward to revamp its laws in light of the Blagojevich scandal, revising and strengthening the Illinois Freedom of Information Act has to be part of that effort. In addition, to meet citizens' demands for a more responsive and responsible government our state and local officials have to change their mindset from opposition to transparency to an embrace of transparency.
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