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A03425 Summary:

BILL NOA03425
 
SAME ASSAME AS S02520
 
SPONSORRaga
 
COSPNSRGonzalez-Rojas, Kim, Shimsky, Simone, Kelles, Epstein, Alvarez
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §89, Pub Off L
 
Relates to the maximum allowable time frames to respond to requests for records under the freedom of information act.
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A03425 Actions:

BILL NOA03425
 
01/27/2025referred to governmental operations
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A03425 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A3425
 
SPONSOR: Raga
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to time frames for responding to requests for records under the freedom of information act   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: Creates a time frame for when an agency can take to respond to a FOIL request.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends the public officers law § 89(3). Section 2 provides an effective date.   DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):   JUSTIFICATION: New York's Freedom of Information Law is a vital tool for New Yorkers to gain access to information that isn't readily available to the public. Unfortunately, many agencies have effectively decided not to comply with the law by endlessly extending their time to respond to requests, thus making the tool ineffective. This bill will require agencies to acknowledge FOIL requests and produce an approximate date, within a reasonable time frame, for the request to be approved or denied by. This bill will ensure that New Yorkers have access to a transparent and responsive government when it comes to FOIL requests.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2024 - Referred to Governmental Operations   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on January 1, 2026.
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A03425 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          3425
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 27, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  RAGA,  GONZALEZ-ROJAS, KIM, SHIMSKY, SIMONE,
          KELLES, EPSTEIN, ALVAREZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Governmental Operations
 
        AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to time frames  for
          responding  to  requests  for records under the freedom of information
          act

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1. Subdivision 3 of section 89 of the public officers law, as
     2  amended by chapter 223 of the laws of 2008 and paragraph (c) as added by
     3  chapter 47 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
     4    3. (a) Each entity subject to the provisions of this  article,  within
     5  five  business  days  of  the  receipt of a written request for a record
     6  reasonably described, shall make such record  available  to  the  person
     7  requesting  it,  deny  such  request  in  writing  or  furnish a written
     8  acknowledgement of the receipt of such request [and a statement  of  the
     9  approximate  date,  which shall be reasonable under the circumstances of
    10  the request, when such request will be granted  or  denied],  including,
    11  where  appropriate, a statement that access to the record will be deter-
    12  mined in accordance with subdivision five of  this  section.    If  such
    13  acknowledgement is not furnished within five business days, such request
    14  shall be deemed denied and is appealable.
    15    (i)  (A)  An acknowledgement shall include a statement of the approxi-
    16  mate date, which shall be reasonable  under  the  circumstances  of  the
    17  request  and  which  shall  not  exceed  thirty days from receipt of the
    18  original request, when such request will be granted  or  denied,  and  a
    19  statement  explaining why such delay is necessary under the circumstance
    20  of the request. If a response is not issued by the date  stated  in  the
    21  acknowledgment,  the  request  shall be deemed denied and is appealable,
    22  except as provided for in clause (B) of this subparagraph.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02197-01-5

        A. 3425                             2
 
     1    (B) An agency may only extend the response date beyond thirty days  if
     2  such agency determines to grant a request in whole or in part and if the
     3  agency  is  unable  to complete its response within thirty days. In such
     4  case, such agency shall state  in  writing  both  the  reason  that  the
     5  response could not be completed within thirty days and provide a date no
     6  later  than  sixty  days  from receipt of the original request when such
     7  request shall be granted in whole or in part. In no case shall an agency
     8  take longer than sixty days to respond to a request. If a full  response
     9  is  not issued within sixty days, the request shall be deemed denied and
    10  is appealable.
    11    (ii) An agency shall not deny a request on the basis that the  request
    12  is  voluminous  or  that  locating or reviewing the requested records or
    13  providing the requested copies is burdensome because  the  agency  lacks
    14  sufficient  staffing  or  on any other basis if the agency may engage an
    15  outside professional service to provide copying,  programming  or  other
    16  services required to provide the copy, the costs of which the agency may
    17  recover  pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section eighty-
    18  seven of this article.
    19    (iii) An agency may require a person requesting  lists  of  names  and
    20  addresses  to  provide a written certification that such person will not
    21  use such lists of names and addresses for solicitation  or  fund-raising
    22  purposes  and will not sell, give or otherwise make available such lists
    23  of names and addresses to any other person for the purpose  of  allowing
    24  that person to use such lists of names and addresses for solicitation or
    25  fund-raising  purposes.  If  an  agency determines to grant a request in
    26  whole or in part, and if circumstances prevent disclosure to the  person
    27  requesting  the  record  or records within twenty business days from the
    28  date of the acknowledgement of the receipt of the  request,  the  agency
    29  shall  state, in writing, both the reason for the inability to grant the
    30  request within twenty business days and a date certain within a  reason-
    31  able  period,  depending  on the circumstances, when the request will be
    32  granted in whole or in part.
    33    (iv) Upon payment of, or offer to pay, the  fee  prescribed  therefor,
    34  the  entity  shall  provide  a  copy  of  such record and certify to the
    35  correctness of such copy if so requested, or as the case may  be,  shall
    36  certify  that  it  does  not have possession of such record or that such
    37  record cannot be found after diligent search.
    38    (v) Nothing in this article shall be construed to require  any  entity
    39  to  prepare any record not possessed or maintained by such entity except
    40  the records specified in subdivision three of section  eighty-seven  and
    41  subdivision three of section eighty-eight of this article. When an agen-
    42  cy has the ability to retrieve or extract a record or data maintained in
    43  a  computer  storage system with reasonable effort, it shall be required
    44  to do so. When doing so requires less employee  time  than  engaging  in
    45  manual  retrieval  or redactions from non-electronic records, the agency
    46  shall be required to retrieve or extract such record or  data  electron-
    47  ically.  Any  programming necessary to retrieve a record maintained in a
    48  computer storage system and  to  transfer  that  record  to  the  medium
    49  requested  by  a person or to allow the transferred record to be read or
    50  printed shall not be deemed to be the preparation or creation of  a  new
    51  record.
    52    (b)  All  entities  shall,  provided  such entity has reasonable means
    53  available, accept requests for records submitted in the  form  of  elec-
    54  tronic mail and shall respond to such requests by electronic mail, using
    55  forms,  to  the  extent  practicable,  consistent with the form or forms
    56  developed by the committee on open government  pursuant  to  subdivision

        A. 3425                             3
 
     1  one of this section and provided that the written requests do not seek a
     2  response in some other form.
     3    (c) Each state agency, as defined in subdivision five of this section,
     4  that  maintains  a  website  shall  ensure  its website provides for the
     5  online submission of a request for records pursuant to this article.
     6    § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2026.
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