Fed government lax in responding to Bloomberg’s FOI requests

A Bloomberg View editorial laments how the federal government has been slow to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests for cabinet-related travel.

The editorial states, “In June, Bloomberg reporters filed Freedom of Information Act requests with 57 federal agencies. The reporters sought data in a narrow (and not particularly complicated) area: taxpayer- supported travel by Cabinet secretaries and top officials. The results were dismaying. Just eight of the agencies met the 20- day window for disclosure required by law. Of 20 Cabinet-level agencies, only the Small Business Administration responded within the legal limit.

“The records of five other Cabinet-level departments — Commerce, Labor, Treasury, the Office of Budget and Management, and the U.S. Trade Representative — were turned over to reporters past the deadline. Fourteen either haven’t fully complied or haven’t responded at all, including the Department of Justice, whose mandate includes enforcing compliance of disclosure laws. (To see a multimedia analysis, click here.)

“Critics of government opacity, including us, should remember that even in the realm of information, freedom isn’t free. Bringing records management up to 21st century snuff is costly. The government processed 631,424 FOIA filings last year, with the number of backlogged requests growing 20 percent, from 2010 to 2011, to 83,490. Getting the process to run more smoothly requires labor and technology, both of which, in turn, require money.”

Read more here.