Free Flow of Information Act signed into law

After years of dedicated effort from the state's FOI advocates, Texas finally has a source protection law on the books. Governor Rick Perry signed HB 670, the long-awaited Free Flow of Information act, May, 13.

According to a press release from the governor's office, the law takes effect immediately.

House Bill 670 by state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer mirrors the version of the Free Flow bill that came out of the House Judiciary Committee last session.

The law says that any body with authority to issue a subpoena cannot compel a journalist to testify or produce or disclose in an official proceeding any confidential or nonconfidential information, document or item obtained or prepared while acting as a journalist. The source of any information, or document described in the law could not be subpoenaed with some exceptions.

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Obama looks to open up federal government with memo

In the first few days of his administration, President Barack Obama took action to promote openness in the federal government.

"Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their government is doing," the president said in a memo. It told his staff he would be running an open administration and directed them to follow suit, Jennifer LaFleur wrote in her Citizen Watchdog column in the Dallas Morning News.

Obama also issued a memo on FOIA that directed agencies to work toward disclosure when fulfilling requests.

"The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fear," the memo said.

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