BILL NUMBER:S1477

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public officers law, in relation
to the availability of subject matter lists of records in the
possession of a state agency

PURPOSE:

This bill would promote open government by requiring a state agency to
transmit its subject matter list (of all categories of records in the
agency's possession) to the Committee on Open Government (COG) within
30 days of an update, and to provide a copy of its current list
without charge upon request of a member of the public.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision (3)(c) of section 87 of the Public
Officers Law to require each State Agency (as defined in subdivision
4) to transmit its subject matter list (SML) to the Committee on Open
Government (COG) within 30 days of an update, and to provide a current
list, without charge, to a person who requests it. Current statutory
provisions which require that a state agency list shall be linked to
or posted on the COG website, are deleted. Also, in its annual report
to the Governor and Legislature, COG would be required to identify any
state agency that had not provided it with an updated list in the
preceding one-year period.
              

Section 2 provides that the Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision shall not be required to make copies of its current
subject matter list available to each inmate without charge, provided
that one or more copies are available to inmates for review at every
correctional facility inmate law library.

EXISTING LAW:

Currently, any agency may charge a fee of up to 25 cents per page for
a copy of any document, including its subject matter list. There is no
current requirement to transmit the most recent updated list to COG,
only an unused provision requiring that COG's website must either link
to or post a version of each state agency's SML.

JUSTIFICATION:

The Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)requires every agency to maintain
"a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter of all records
in the possession of the agency." This "subject matter list" (SML) is
an essential element of FOIL which benefits the agency by helping the
public to more precisely identify the documents to request. However,
recent news reports indicate that many state agencies are failing to
follow FOIL requirements and post a current SML online, and some have
even demanded payment of excessive fees (over $400) to provide a paper
copy of the list. There is no reason that a state agency's records
access officers shouldn't have multiple copies of a current list of
agency records readily available to distribute upon request. Advance
preparation of such lists would also minimize copying costs. Barring
the charging of fees for paper SMLs would also remove any disincentive
for online posting of the document. Beyond this, requiring that a copy


of the most recent annual update must be transmitted to COG within 30
days and for identification of non-compliant state agencies will help
to ensure that appropriate attention is paid to maintaining current
SMLs. These requirements would replace statutory provisions to have
state agency lists linked to or posted on COG's website which have not
proven effective.  The Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision is able to provide inmates with access to copies of its
SML in each correctional facility inmate law library. It is therefore
appropriate to make the requirement to provide SML copies without
charge inapplicable in such circumstances.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.7933 of 2014 referred to Rules;
A.9687 2014 referred to Governmental Operations

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None. Most SMLs are only a few pages long and the cost of handling and
processing fee payments is often greater than the amount collected.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

First day of November after becoming law; provided that COG is not
required to begin identifying non-compliant agencies until its second
annual report after enactment (to allow one full reporting cycle to be
completed).