OPEN Government Act of 2007
Latest action · Mar 27, 2007 Referred to the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 5, 2007
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007 or the OPEN Government Act of 2007 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to prohibit a federal agency from denying a requester status as a news media representative for purposes of determining FOIA request processing fees solely on the absence of institutional association. Requires an agency to consider the requester's prior publication history or stated intent to distribute information to a reasonably broad audience.
Provides that, for purposes of recovery of attorney fees and other litigation costs under FOIA, a complainant has substantially prevailed if the complainant has obtained relief through either: (1) a judicial order, an administrative action, or an enforceable written agreement or consent decree; or (2) a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the opposing party in a case in which the complainant's claim or defense was not frivolous.
Directs the Attorney General to notify the Special Counsel of and report to Congress on civil actions taken for arbitrary and capricious rejections of requests for agency records.
Prohibits the tolling of the time limit within which agencies determine whether to comply with a request for records without the consent of the party filing the request.
Requires agencies to establish systems to track requests.
Adds requirements for reports by agencies to the Attorney General on such requests.
Establishes the Office of Government Information Services in the National Archives to: (1) provide, as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation, guidance to FOIA requesters; (2) review policies and procedures by administrative agencies under FOIA; and (3) recommend to Congress and the President policy changes to improve FOIA's administration.
Requires the: (1) Comptroller General to annually report on implementation of provisions for the protection of voluntarily shared critical infrastructure information; and (2) Office of Personnel Management to report on personnel policies related to FOIA.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 27, 2007Referred to the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives.
- Mar 5, 2007Introduced in House
- Mar 5, 2007Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
- Mar 5, 2007Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E460)
Related bills 4
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 849 | OPEN Government Act of 2007 | Related bill | Sep 4, 2007 |
| HR 1309 | Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007 | Related bill | Mar 15, 2007 |
| S 2427 | OPEN Government Act of 2007 | Related bill | Dec 6, 2007 |
| S 2488 | OPEN Government Act of 2007 | Related bill | Dec 31, 2007 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Administrative fees
- Administrative procedure
- Administrative remedies
- Business records
- Civil actions and liability
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Commerce
- Congress
- Congressional investigations
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Consent decrees
- Data banks
- Disciplining of employees
- Economics and Public Finance
- Electronic government information
- Employee training
- Executive reorganization
- Federal employees
- Federal officials
- Freedom of information
- Government contractors
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government publicity
- Government statistics
- Governmental investigations
- Identification devices
- Infrastructure
- Infrastructure (Economics)
- Internet
- Judicial review
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Legal fees
- Legislation
- Mass media
- National Archives and Records Administration
- Performance measurement
- Personnel management
- Position classification
- Promotions
- Public records
- Salaries
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Telephone
- Terrorism
- User charges
- Web sites
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 5, 2007Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.
