3.0.0 2520 2023-01-11T13:25:06Z 2023-01-11T13:25:06Z Senate S S 2014-06-24 113 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Reported by 2014-11-20T18:11:44Z Markup by 2014-11-20T15:00:00Z Referred to 2014-06-24T20:39:55Z S. Rept. 113-287 FOIA Act 113 1211 HR 2014-02-26 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Related bill CRS 2014-12-09 15:58:17 Held at the desk. Floor H15000 2 House floor actions 2014-12-09 12:22:09 Received in the House. Floor H14000 2 House floor actions 2014-12-09 Senate Message on Senate action sent to the House. Floor 2014-12-08 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate By Senator Leahy from Committee on the Judiciary filed written report. Report No. 113-287. Floor 2014-12-08 By Senator Leahy from Committee on the Judiciary filed written report. Report No. 113-287. Committee 14900 9 Library of Congress ssju00 Judiciary Committee 2014-12-08 Senate Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S6375-6377; text as passed Senate: CR S6375-6377) Floor 2014-12-08 Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S6375-6377; text as passed Senate: CR S6375-6377) Floor 17000 9 Library of Congress 2014-11-20 Senate Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 605. Calendars 2014-11-20 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report. Committee 2014-11-20 Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report. Committee 14000 9 Library of Congress ssju00 Judiciary Committee 2014-11-20 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably. Committee 2014-06-24 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3942-3944) IntroReferral 2014-06-24 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3942) IntroReferral B00100 9 Library of Congress 2014-06-24 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress L000174 Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT] Patrick Leahy D VT N C001056 Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] John Cornyn R TX 2014-06-24 True M000133 Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] Edward Markey D MA J. 2014-07-08 False H001042 Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] Mazie Hirono D HI K. 2014-07-31 False G000386 Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] Charles Grassley R IA E. 2014-09-15 False J000291 Sen. Johanns, Mike [R-NE] Mike Johanns R NE 2014-11-20 False A000368 Sen. Ayotte, Kelly [R-NH] Kelly Ayotte R NH 2014-11-20 False C001088 Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] Christopher Coons D DE A. 2014-11-20 False Government Operations and Politics Administrative law and regulatory procedures Administrative remedies Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration Congressional oversight Executive agency funding and structure Federal officials Freedom of information Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Government Operations and Politics 00 2014-06-24 Introduced in Senate 2014-08-28T18:04:19Z FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to: (1) require federal agencies to make agency records that can be disclosed under such Act available for public inspection in an electronic format, (2) limit the authority of an agency to charge a fee if the agency misses a deadline for complying with a FOIA request, (3) establish a presumption in favor of disclosure and prohibit the application of exemptions from FOIA based on technicalities, (4) expand the authority and duties of the Chief FOIA Officer of each agency for promoting compliance with the FOIA disclosure requirements, and (5) establish a Chief FOIA Officers Council to develop recommendations for increasing compliance with FOIA requirements.

Requires the head of each federal agency to: (1) review agency regulations and issue regulations for the disclosure of records in accordance with the amendments to FOIA made by this Act, and (2) include in such regulations procedures for engaging in dispute resolution through the FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Government Information Services.

Expands the program for the efficient management of federal agency records to require agency heads to establish procedures for: (1) identifying records of general interest or use to the public that are appropriate for public disclosure, and (2) posting such records in a publicly-accessible electronic format.

Prohibits the authorization of additional funds to carry out the requirements of this Act.

]]> 01 2014-11-20 Reported to Senate with amendment(s) 2015-01-29T16:07:16Z FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to:

  • require federal agencies to make their disclosable records and documents available for public inspection in an electronic format;
  • require agencies to make available for inspection in an electronic format records that have been requested at least three times (frequently requested records);
  • prohibit an agency from charging a fee for providing records if the agency misses a deadline for complying with an FOIA request unless unusual circumstances apply;
  • prohibit an agency from withholding information requested under FOIA unless the agency reasonably foresees a specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by an FOIA exemption or disclosure is prohibited by law (presumption of openness);
  • require the Office of Government Information Services to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between agencies and FOIA requesters;
  • require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct audits of agency compliance with FOIA requirements;
  • expand the authority and duties of the Chief FOIA Officer of each agency for promoting compliance with FOIA disclosure requirements; and
  • establish a Chief FOIA Officers Council to develop recommendations for increasing compliance with FOIA requirements.

(Sec. 3) Requires the head of each federal agency to: (1) review agency regulations and issue regulations on procedures for disclosure of records in accordance with the amendments to FOIA made by this Act, and (2) include in such regulations procedures for engaging in dispute resolution through the FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Government Information Services.

(Sec. 4) Expands the program for the efficient management of federal agency records to require agency heads to establish procedures for identifying records of general interest or use to the public that are appropriate for public disclosure and for posting such records in a publicly-accessible electronic format.

(Sec. 5) Prohibits the authorization of additional funds to carry out the requirements of this Act.

]]> 35 2014-12-08 Passed Senate amended 2015-01-29T16:09:25Z (This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on November 20, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to:

  • require federal agencies to make their disclosable records and documents available for public inspection in an electronic format;
  • require agencies to make available for inspection in an electronic format records that have been requested at least three times (frequently requested records);
  • prohibit an agency from charging a fee for providing records if the agency misses a deadline for complying with an FOIA request unless unusual circumstances apply;
  • prohibit an agency from withholding information requested under FOIA unless the agency reasonably foresees a specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by an FOIA exemption or disclosure is prohibited by law (presumption of openness);
  • require the Office of Government Information Services to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between agencies and FOIA requesters;
  • require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct audits of agency compliance with FOIA requirements;
  • expand the authority and duties of the Chief FOIA Officer of each agency for promoting compliance with FOIA disclosure requirements; and
  • establish a Chief FOIA Officers Council to develop recommendations for increasing compliance with FOIA requirements.

(Sec. 3) Requires the head of each federal agency to: (1) review agency regulations and issue regulations on procedures for disclosure of records in accordance with the amendments to FOIA made by this Act, and (2) include in such regulations procedures for engaging in dispute resolution through the FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Government Information Services.

(Sec. 4) Expands the program for the efficient management of federal agency records to require agency heads to establish procedures for identifying records of general interest or use to the public that are appropriate for public disclosure and for posting such records in a publicly-accessible electronic format.

(Sec. 5) Prohibits the authorization of additional funds to carry out the requirements of this Act.

]]> FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 Display Title FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 Official Title as Introduced A bill to improve the Freedom of Information Act. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 Short Titles as Reported to Senate FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 S Senate Short Titles as Passed Senate FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 S Senate Engrossed in Senate 2014-12-08T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-113s2520es/xml/BILLS-113s2520es.xml Reported to Senate 2014-11-20T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-113s2520rs/xml/BILLS-113s2520rs.xml Introduced in Senate 2014-06-24T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-113s2520is/xml/BILLS-113s2520is.xml 2014-12-09 Held at the desk. 15:58:17 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.