Last month, New York State Sen. David J. Valesky authored a bill (S07449A) to "open up the state Legislature to the same Freedom of Information Laws that apply to other state agencies."
According to Valesky, the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) presumes state agency documents are public unless kept from disclosure by a specific exemption. "For the Legislature," said Valesky in a release, "it is reversed. The law presumes that Legislative documents are not subject to Freedom of Information Laws, specifically listing only those documents that are public information."
A story today in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle applauds the bill and cites a case of possible legislative misconduct in which records were sealed when the person resigned.