PIA

Transparency legislation makes progress in Texas House of Representatives

FOIFT2023-05-09T11:27:53-05:00

By Kelley Shannon Executive Director Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas May 9, 2023 Transparency proposals supported by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and the diverse Texas Sunshine Coalition have progressed in the Texas House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. House Bill 2493 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, is a searchable-sortable records bill requiring information to be supplied in spreadsheet format when available. The measure won final passage in the House on Saturday. It now moves on to the Texas Senate. Legislation defining "business days" under the Texas Public Information Act, carried in the House by Rep. Terry [...]

Transparency legislation makes progress in Texas House of RepresentativesFOIFT2023-05-09T11:27:53-05:00

‘Dead suspect loophole’ bill moving forward in Texas Legislature after Uvalde

FOIFT2023-05-04T16:58:11-05:00

By Matt Grant KXAN Originally published April 13, 2023 Update May 4, 2023: The Texas House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to HB 30 with a vote of 112-31. AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nearly a year after 19 elementary school students and two teachers were murdered in Uvalde — followed by a steady stream of incorrect and incomplete information released to the public — Texas House lawmakers heard testimony on a bill that would end the state’s controversial “dead suspect loophole.” For years, KXAN has investigated this loophole, which allows police to keep information secret in closed criminal cases that don’t go [...]

‘Dead suspect loophole’ bill moving forward in Texas Legislature after UvaldeFOIFT2023-05-04T16:58:11-05:00

House Committee hears Texas Sunshine Coalition’s searchable-sortable records bill

FOIFT2023-04-05T14:15:38-05:00

The Texas House Committee on State Affairs heard testimony Wednesday in support of legislation that would ensure requestors can obtain public information in spreadsheet format, if it's stored that way. House Bill 2493 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, is one of several transparency bills the diverse Texas Sunshine Coalition is working to pass this legislative session. A spreadsheet, or searchable-sortable format for large volumes of data, helps citizens better analyze information and keep a watch on government. Individual citizens, community groups, research organizations and journalists all benefit from the availability of searchable-sortable information. Rod Bordelon of the Texas Public Policy Foundation [...]

House Committee hears Texas Sunshine Coalition’s searchable-sortable records billFOIFT2023-04-05T14:15:38-05:00

Transparency legislation at the Texas Capitol a bipartisan effort

FOIFT2023-03-13T11:18:12-05:00

By Kelley Shannon To witness bipartisanship at the Texas Capitol, look to the lawmakers who are working to improve open government laws. Legislators from both political parties are igniting interest in transparency and creating the opportunity for all lawmakers to protect the people’s right to know. They’re carrying on our state’s legacy of openness. When the reform-minded 1973 Legislature enacted the Texas Public Information Act, known then as the Open Records Act, it established one of the nation’s strongest transparency laws. This year marks its 50th anniversary. Court rulings and other actions have weakened the law, but as we celebrate open [...]

Transparency legislation at the Texas Capitol a bipartisan effortFOIFT2023-03-13T11:18:12-05:00

Uvalde records lawsuit continues, no closer to a resolution or transparency

FOIFT2023-03-10T10:18:03-06:00

By Caroline Ghisolfi Austin American-Statesman Originally published March 10, 2023 Nine months after the massacre at Robb Elementary School that left 21 dead and 17 injured, the Uvalde district attorney and the Texas Department of Public Safety continue to fight the release of records, First Amendment attorney Laura Lee Prather told a district judge. “Calls for transparency and accountability have run loud and clear. They’ve reverberated in public settings throughout the state,” said Prather, lead counsel for a consortium of more than a dozen news organizations who have sued to obtain a trove of records to report on the law enforcement [...]

Uvalde records lawsuit continues, no closer to a resolution or transparencyFOIFT2023-03-10T10:18:03-06:00

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