OPEN 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.

12/31/2007--Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate passed version is repeated here.) Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007 or the OPEN Government Act of 2007 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to revise requirements for federal agency disclosures of information requested under that Act.
(Sec. 3) Provides definitions of "representative of the news media" and "news" for purposes of request processing fees. Regards a freelance journalist as working for a news-media entity if the journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that entity.
(Sec. 4) Provides that, for purposes of awarding attorney fees and litigation costs, a FOIA complainant has substantially prevailed in a legal proceeding to compel disclosure if such complainant 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 if the complainant's claim is not insubstantial. Prohibits the Treasury's Claims and Judgment Fund from being used to pay reasonable attorney fees in cases where the complainant has substantially prevailed. Requires fees to be paid only from funds annually appropriated for authorized purposes for the federal agency against which a claim or judgment has been rendered.

(Sec. 5) Directs the Attorney General to:
(1) notify the Special Counsel of civil actions taken for arbitrary and capricious rejections of requests for agency records; and
(2) submit annual reports to Congress on such civil actions. Directs the Special Counsel to submit an annual report on investigations of agency rejections of FOIA requests.
(Sec. 6) Requires the 20-day period during which an agency must determine whether to comply with a FOIA request to begin on the date the request is received by the appropriate component of the agency, but no later than 10 days after the request is received by any component that is designated to receive FOIA requests in the agency's FOIA regulations. Prohibits the tolling of the 20-day period by the agency, except:
(1) that the agency may make one request to the requester for information and toll the 20-day period while it is awaiting such information; or
(2) if necessary to clarify with the requester issues regarding fee assessment. Ends the tolling period on the agency's receipt of the requester's response. Prohibits an agency from assessing search or duplication fees if it fails to comply with time limits, provided that no unusual or exceptional circumstances apply to the processing of the request. Requires each agency to make available its FOIA Public Liaison, who shall assist in the resolution of any disputes between the requester and the agency.

(Sec. 7) Requires agencies to establish:
(1) a system to assign an individualized tracking number for each FOIA request received that will take longer than 10 days to process; and
(2) a telephone line or Internet service that provides information on the status of a request.
(Sec. 8) Revises annual reporting requirements on agency compliance with FOIA to require information on:
(1) FOIA denials based upon particular statutes;
(2) response times; and
(3) compliance by the agency and by each principal component thereof. Requires agencies to make the raw statistical data used in reports electronically available to the public upon request.
(Sec. 9) Redefines "record" under FOIA to include any information maintained by an agency contractor.
(Sec. 10) Establishes within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) an Office of Government Information Services to:
(1) review compliance with FOIA policies;
(2) recommend policy changes to Congress and the President; and
(3) offer mediation services between FOIA requesters and administrative agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Authorizes the Office to issue advisory opinions if mediation has not resolved the dispute. Requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer, who shall:
(1) have responsibility for FOIA compliance;
(2) monitor FOIA implementation;
(3) recommend to the agency head adjustments to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding to improve implementation of FOIA; and
(4) facilitate public understanding of the purposes of FOIA's statutory exemptions. Requires agencies to designate at least one FOIA Public Liaison, who shall be appointed by the Chief FOIA Officer, to:
(1) serve as an official to whom a FOIA requester can raise concerns about service from the FOIA Requester Center; and
(2) be responsible for assisting in reducing delays, increasing transparency and understanding of the status of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes.

(Sec. 11) Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to report to Congress on personnel policies related to FOIA.
(Sec. 12) Sets forth requirements to describe exemptions authorizing deletions of material provided under FOIA.


... morehide bill summary

Sponsor

• Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
• and 17 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]
  • Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
  • Sen. Sherrod Brown [D, OH]
  • Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD]
  • Sen. Thomas Coburn [R, OK]
  • Sen. John Cornyn [R, TX]
  • Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
  • Sen. Russell Feingold [D, WI]
  • Sen. John Isakson [R, GA]
  • Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
  • Sen. Jon Kyl [R, AZ]
  • Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
  • Barack Obama
  • Sen. Bernard Sanders [I, VT]
  • Gordon Smith
  • Sen. Arlen Specter [D, PA]
  close

Committees

• House Oversight and Government Reform

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.2488

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget

	OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		This Bill Has Become Law
December 14, 2007		December 14, 2007		December 18, 2007		December 31, 2007		December 31, 2007

Show All Actions (14 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Enacted on Dec 31, 2007. Became Public Law No: 110-175.
• Signed on Dec 31, 2007.
• Dec 21, 2007. Presented to President.
• Dec 19, 2007. Presented to President.
• Passed by voice vote in the House on Dec 18, 2007. On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
• Dec 18, 2007: Mr. Clay moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
• Dec 18, 2007: Considered under suspension of the rules.
• Dec 18, 2007: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 2488.
• Dec 18, 2007. Cleared for White House.
• Dec 17, 2007: Received in the House.
• Dec 17, 2007: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
• Dec 14, 2007: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
• Passed by Unanimous Consent in the Senate on Dec 14, 2007. Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
• Introduced on Dec 14, 2007.

---

Related Bills:

• H.R.1309
• H.R.1326
• S.849
• S.2427

Related Issue Areas:

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

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking S.2488 (4) are also tracking:

Show More User Statistics... Hide User Statistics

In the News

January 25, 2008 White House Signals Intent To Strip Critical FOIA Funds From OIGS

... the President signed the Leahy-Cornyn "Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act" (the "OPEN Government Act"), S. 2488, ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: All American Patriots (press release), Sweden

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

January 11, 2008 Gazette Opinion: A victory for open government

The Open Government Act of 2007 (S. 2488) was written to reverse those trends by strengthening provisions for public access and government accountability. ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Billings Gazette,  USA

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

January 03, 2008 President Bush signs FOIA reforms

On New Year’s Eve, the President signed the OPEN Government Act of 2007 (S. 2488) into law despite having tried previously to prevent such reforms. ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Project on Government Oversight, DC

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

11 more articles...
See most useful news articles

Information made available by:

Blog Coverage

November 03, 2008 Open Question: is anyone out there wondering what obama has ...

These include: The Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 (became law) The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act S.2488 : A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: darfur

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

November 02, 2008 My hometown paper endorses McCain and gets facts wrong about Obama

S.2488 OPEN Government Act of 2007 S. 2803 Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 S. 707 PREEMIE Act S. 906: Mercury Market Minimization Act of 2007 S.2617 Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008 ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Eye of Providence

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

September 30, 2008 The Posterity Project: Secrecy report card grades are in...

S. 2488: OPEN Government Act of 2007; H.R. 6576: Reducing Information Control Designations Act; H.R. 6193: Improving Public Access to Documents Act of 2008; H.R. 6575: Over-Classification Reduction Act; H.R. 4806: Reducing ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: The Posterity Project

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

90 more posts...
See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: