The OPEN Government Act and Related Legislation

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tx) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have introduced three bills affecting the Freedom of Information Act. The first, the OPEN Government Act, would make a series of changes to improve the implementation of the act, most recently amended in 1996 to provide for electronic record keeping. A second bill implements just one section of that bill, calling for Congress to explicitly identify any amendments to FOIA as part of proposed legislation. It has passed the Senate. The third bill, Faster FOIA, would create a one-year study commission to review FOIA and its operation and report back to Congress. The Senate and the House have each held one public hearing on the FOIA. Here are links to texts of the three bills, plus analyses of the legislation and transcripts of the testimony at the hearings.