From the Reporter-Herald (Loveland): The key to a healthy, open government is public participation. This Independence Day marks 48 years since the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into federal law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This legislation gives citizens the right to request and obtain documents from any agency of the executive branch of the United States government. It sets standards for determining which records must be disclosed and which records may be withheld.

The FOIA also provides administrative and judicial remedies for those denied access to records. Above all, the statute requires federal agencies to provide the fullest possible disclosure of information to the public.

Colorado passed its own versions of the FOIA in 1969 with the Colorado Open Records Act, and in 1972 with the Colorado Sunshine Law for open meetings, and this year these laws were strengthened by a bill protecting a citizen’s right to legally challenge violations of the Sunshine Law, and a bill standardizing the fees that governments in Colorado can charge to fill public records requests. As with the FOIA, the CORA has exemptions including: medical data, personnel files, letters of reference, trade secrets, library records, addresses of public school children, and sexual harassment complaints under investigation.

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