Jane Briggs-Bunting, a champion of open government, will be honored Thursday for her careerlong work to increase the transparency of and access to Michigan public records and meetings. She is the first recipient of the Jane Briggs-Bunting Transparency in Government
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Detroit News editor champions FOI expansion to governor, legislators
Detroit News editor Nolan Finley endorses expansion of state’s freedom of information laws to include the governor, lieutenant governor and legislators. Read his column: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/nolan-finley/2018/03/19/let-sunshine-government/33096325/
Sunshine Week Would Be Brighter in Michigan with Stronger FOIA Laws
While citizens in the other 49 states celebrate the 13th annual national Sunshine Week from March 11-17, Michigan residents remains an outlier in transparency and accountability under its freedom of information laws. Michigan is the only state in the nation
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LORA bills earn unanimous approval in State House
Michigan’s 108 state representatives sent a powerful message on Thursday, March 16 by passing the Legislative Open Records Act unanimously. To approve this legislation during National Sunshine Week reflects the commitment and interest these elected officials have in open and
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State news media push Senate to approve FOIA expansion
The drumbeat pushing the state Senate to approve the Legislative Open Records Act has begun. One of the opening salvos came from Mlive.com in an editorial headlined: “State Senate needs to heed House’s call for a more transparent government”. Michigan
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Help make FOIA stronger, make Sunshine Week last all year
Welcome to National Sunshine Week. The Michigan Coalition for Open Government board has worked hard to get the word out about the importance of FOIA to all of the state’s citizens. Opinion columns have run in the Detroit Free Press, The
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MiCOG weighs in on FOIA impact in Flint
Listen to MiCOG board member and former Detroit Free Press columnist Ron Dzonkowski interview on WKAR radio about FOIA as it relates to the Flint water crisis. Michigan earned an F and was ranked dead last for transparency in the 2015
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Ten Dems seek to add Gov and Legislators to state FOIA
Kudos to ten Democratic Michigan state senators for introducing SB 716 Thursday (January 21, 2016) that would amend the state Freedom of Information Act to include the Governor and the Legislature. This is a step towards addressing one of the
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Appeals court must decide if MCCA is public, subject to FOIA
State Supreme Court rules Michigan’s Constitution requires if one law modifies another, that other law must be amended, too. Michigan’s high court on Friday reversed a Court of Appeals ruling and ordered that lower court to determine if the legislatively
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E-filing funding on Tuesday Senate Com. agenda
The proposed SB 531 is a good first step in the plan to create a statewide e-filing docket management system moving Michigan’s court system into the 21st Century. We support this effort to address funding. But important issues need to
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