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Governor Hochul Announces New Actions To Increase
Transparency And Access To Public Records
NYS Governor’s Office Press Release, March 14, 2022 Building on this progress, the Office of Information Technology
Services today took the next step in the procurement process
Office of Information Technology Services Takes Next Step in Procurement by issuing an RFQ for a software platform which will serve
Process for New Software to Expeditiously Process FOIL Request to accelerate and streamline the State’s process for receiving,
Hochul Administration Has Committed to Improving FOIL Process processing and responding to FOIL requests. Such a software
and Completed More FOIL Requests Since Taking Office Less Than platform will be a major step toward increasing transparency
Seven Months Ago Than Had Been Processed In All Of 2019 Or and timely access to public records. The new software platform
All Of 2020 Based On Preliminary Data will use technology to streamline the receipt, processing and
response to FOIL requests, thus allowing a more efficient and
On March 15th, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New expeditious process. Now that the RFQ is issued, ITS expects a
York State is moving forward with improvements to the process contract to be finalized in the coming weeks.
of responding to public records requests. Building on efforts
announced in October to streamline the Freedom of Information NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) Chief
Law process, including directing agencies to proactively post Information Officer Angelo “Tony” Riddick said, “Today’s
commonly-requested documents online and allowing agencies announcement is a major step forward for all New Yorkers who
to respond to FOIL requests without Executive Chamber review, believe that state government should be open, honest, transparent
Governor Hochul has directed the New York State Office of and accountable. I commend Governor Hochul for her
Information Technology Services to issue a Request for Quotes commitment to breaking down the barriers to sharing information
to secure a software platform which will accelerate and streamline and data with the public in a timely way. ITS is proud to assist the
the State’s process for receiving, processing and responding to Governor in executing her vision of what is possible when openness
and transparency becomes the rule and not the exception.”
FOIL requests. The announcement comes during Sunshine
Week, an opportunity to spotlight efforts to increase openness This announcement is the latest effort from Governor Hochul
and transparency in government. to increase transparency, accountability and ethics in state
“On my first day in office, I pledged to turn the page on the government. In her State of the State address, Governor Hochul
announced proposals to reform the Joint Commission on Public
old ways of Albany and restore New Yorkers’ faith in their Ethics and institute term limits and outside income bans for
government,” Governor Hochul said. “We’re taking meaningful statewide elected officials. Weeks after taking office, Governor
action to streamline the process to access public records, so Hochul publicly released transparency plans from more than
journalists and members of the public can more easily access 70 state agencies, recusal policies for top State officials, and
information to which they are entitled. While there’s always instituted new human resources policies to protect employees
more work to do, I’m proud of the steps my administration has across state government and within the Executive Chamber from
taken to increase transparency and accountability in New York discrimination and harassment.
State government.”
In October 2021, Governor Hochul announced improvements Highlights of the Adopted NYS FY 2023 Budget
to the FOIL process, with the goal of providing more public Update provided April 12, 2022 by
records on a faster timeline and reducing the backlog NYSAPLS’ Counsel, Brown Weinraub
of thousands of FOIL requests inherited by the Hochul
Administration. Agencies are no longer required to send FOIL Last week, the Governor announced that a final budget
responses to the Executive Chamber for review, but instead will agreement for State Fiscal Year 2022- 2023 had been reached
process FOIL requests directly through their agency’s General with the Legislature. The Legislature finalized voting on the
Counsel. Agencies are also required to take steps to identify and bills early April 9th. The agreement was announced a week after
the beginning of the State Fiscal Year, and after the Legislature
publicly post frequently requested documents and documents had passed a budget extender bill to allow the State to continue
that have public significance, so interested parties can find to carry out government functions. Please see the following
relevant information without needing to file a FOIL request. highlights of the enacted budget below:
The Executive Chamber is reviewing agency requests to fill
FOIL staffing and software capacity needs, as well as provide Economic Development
FOIL trainings to all state agencies. New Office of Workforce Development. The final budget
Based on preliminary data, more than 400 FOIL requests have agreement includes a proposal to create a new office of Workforce
been processed and completed by the Executive Chamber since Development to make targeted investments in professions such
Governor Hochul took office. The Hochul Administration has as teachers, healthcare workers, collegiate apprenticeships and
processed and completed more FOIL requests over the past internships, mental health professionals, and caregivers.
seven months than in all of 2019 (323 requests completed) and Seed Funding for New Small Businesses. Under the FY 2023
all of 2020 (368 requests completed). budget, this initiative will provide flexible grants to support
early-stage micro and small businesses in New York.

8 EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 58 • NO 3 / 2022 • MAY/JUNE