Coalition Opposes LD 152 Which Would Allow Agencies 30 Days to Respond to Public Record Requests Under Freedom of Access Act
The New England First Amendment Coalition submitted testimony today against a Maine bill that would allow state and local agencies 30 days to respond to public record requests.
The state’s Freedom of Access Act currently requires record requests to be fulfilled within a “reasonable time.” LD 152 would instead set a 30-day deadline for all requests. While a specific deadline could improve the law and increase transparency, NEFAC wrote to the state’s Committee on Judiciary, a month is simply too long and provides an incentive for abuse.
“Some requests only require minutes or hours and certainly not 30 days,” NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman explained. “If this legislation passes, the new law will implicitly give permission to every agency to take a month to fulfill a request, no matter how simple it might be.”
Hundreds of requests to state agencies in 2023 took more than 30 days to be acknowledged, according to state data. Despite these delays, nearly half of the 2,936 requests to state agencies that year were responded to within five days.
“For these reasons, we applaud the intent behind LD 152 and agree that a specific deadline should replace the current ‘reasonable’ requirement. But we’re also concerned that any deadline set will become the de facto date of compliance,” Silverman wrote. “Thirty days is not the magic number. Providing a month to respond to requests will do little to change the slow pace at which many requests are already being fulfilled and it will likely prolong those requests that would otherwise be completed quickly.”
In its testimony, NEFAC encouraged legislators to consider the more effective deadlines of other states. Except for Connecticut — which has a similarly problematic “promptly” requirement for responses — all other New England states require agencies to respond to record requests in less than 30 days unless those requests are considered burdensome in some way. Read NEFAC’s FOI Guide to learn more.
NEFAC is the region’s leading advocate for the First Amendment and the public’s right to know about government. All coalition briefs, advocacy letters and statements can be found here.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.
Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.
NEFAC is supported by the Estate of Gloria L. Negri. Additional funding is provided by Leadership Circle donors including the Rhode Island Foundation, The Boston Globe, Paul and Ann Sagan, and the Robertson Foundation. Major Supporters of NEFAC’s work are Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Boston University, the Academy of New England Journalists, Northeastern University and WCVB-Boston.