Court blocks lawmaker emails with lobbyists from public view

More Statehouse secrecy: Without hearings, GOP lawmakers kill voters’ power to elect county officials

Instead of using the time-honored process of proposing a bill, lawmakers slip major county government changes into budget legislation, squashing the democratic process and transparency

Emails between Pa. lawmakers and lobbyists will remain hidden from the public after court ruling

Advocates called the ruling a missed opportunity to create more transparency around the state legislature and multimillion-dollar lobbying industry.

Court blocks lawmaker emails with lobbyists from public view

HARRISBURG — Emails and other communications between Pennsylvania lawmakers and the lobbyists who try to influence them will remain hidden from the public, an appellate court has ruled. The decision last month by a panel of Commonwealth Court judges means the state legislature can continue to shield from public view written interactions they have with the lobbying industry, which spends tens of millions of dollars annually to shape public policy…

FOIA bill heads to Arkansas governor’s desk

Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, questions a bill that would abolish the State Library Board and the Educational Television Commission. Photographed Feb. 13, 2025. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)A bill that clarifies aspects of Arkansas’ public meetings law is heading to the governor’s desk after it again passed the Senate by a wide margin on Monday. The bill specifies what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards could discu…

Journalists' demand for 'Cop City' records puts Atlanta Police Foundation secrecy on trial

A Georgia judge will soon rule in a major press-freedom case that could clarify to what extent private groups doing government business are subject to the state’s open records laws. In January 2024, the Atlanta Community Press Collective (ACPC) and Lucy Parsons Labs — a Chicago think tank advocating for government transparency — sued the nonprofit Atlanta Police Foundation in Fulton County Superior Court, alleging that the powerful police lobby …

County resolution seeking open records act reform passes after sharp debate, with Pond saying it's been weaponized and Hansen branding the move 'feckless'

Sean Pond had barely been sworn into office, when, he said, the open records requests started hitting him. He didn't even yet have a county device or email, the Montrose County commissioner said April 2, as he advanced a resolution…