Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007

A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes.

12/6/2007--Introduced.
Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007 or the OPEN Government Act of 2007 - Amends Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provisions to define "representative of the news media" and "news," specify examples of news-media entities, and provide that a freelance journalist shall be regarded as working for a news-media entity if the journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that entity.
Provides that, for purposes of recovery of attorney fees and other litigation costs under FOIA, a complainant has substantially prevailed if the complainant has obtained relief through either:
(1) a judicial order or an enforceable written agreement or consent decree; or
(2) a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the agency, provided that the complainant's claim is not insubstantial. Requires attorney fees to be paid only from appropriations of an agency against which a claim or judgment has been rendered.
Directs the Attorney General to notify the Special Counsel of and report on civil actions taken for arbitrary and capricious rejections of requests for agency records.
Sets forth provisions concerning:
(1) the tolling of the time limit within which agencies determine whether to comply with a request for records; and
(2) refunding search fees if an agency fails to comply with time limits. Requires each agency to make available its FOIA Public Liaison to assist in resolving requester disputes.
Requires agencies to establish:
(1) a system to assign an individual tracking number for each FOIA request that will take longer than ten days to process; and
(2) a telephone line or Internet service to provide information on the status of requests.
Revises certain reporting requirements relating to FOIA requests and agency responses. Establishes the Office of Government Information Services within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to:
(1) review agency compliance with FOIA policies;
(2) recommend policy changes; and
(3) offer mediation services between FOIA requesters and administrative agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer and at least one FOIA Public Liaison.
Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to report on personnel policies related to FOIA.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
• and 1 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. John Cornyn [R, TX]
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Committees

• Senate Judiciary

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.2427

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
December 06, 2007

Show All Actions (3 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Dec 06, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
• Dec 06, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14853-14854)
• Introduced on Dec 06, 2007.

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Related Bills:

• H.R.1309
• H.R.1326
• S.849
• S.2488

Related Issue Areas:

• Reporters and reporting
• Rating of employees
• Public records
• Promotions
• 30 more
• Position classification
• Politics and government
• Personnel management
• Ombudsman
• National Archives and Records Administration
• Limitation of actions
• Legal fees
• Law
• Journalism
• Identification devices
• Government statistics
• Government publicity
• Government paperwork
• Government employees
• Freedom of information
• Federal officials
• Federal employees
• Executive reorganization
• Executive departments
• Disciplining of employees
• Consent decrees
• Congressional reporting requirements
• Congressional investigations
• Congress
• Communications
• Civil liberties
• Budgets
• Administrative fees
• Actions and defenses
• Government information

Data from the Congressional Research Service

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Blog Coverage

December 05, 2007 Bill Action: Introduced: S. 2427: A bill to promote accessibility ...

Patrick Leahy [D-VT] introduced S. 2427: A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), ...

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December 05, 2007 S. 2427, A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, and ...

S. 2427 would promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act).... Vote on This Bill: For | Against.

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