Reporters Committee urges R.I. governor to sign FOIA enhancement bill

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today submitted a letter to Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, urging him to sign into law a bill amending the state Access to Public Records Act that would increase public access to a number of categories of state records.

The Reporters Committee told Chafee that the law would bring Rhode Island’s open records law into line with other, similar laws at the state and federal levels, incentivize state and local officials to comply with the law, and strengthen journalists’ right to pursue legal action against agencies that violate it.