FILE - In this June 30, 2020, photo, a man passes a clothing shop with open signs in the window in Calexico, Calif. A year after the first coronavirus shutdowns, many U.S. states and cities are still struggling with a silent side effect: Public records have become harder to get. As states prepared to reopen their economies following coronavirus shutdowns last spring, The Associated Press asked governors across the U.S.
“The pandemic rages on, but investigative journalism doesn’t halt. The public’s right to know doesn’t cease to exist,” said Gunita Singh, a legal fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has tracked nationwide delays in responding to public records requests. New data indicates there has been both a higher demand for government information during the pandemic and longer waits to obtain it.State, county and city governments experienced a sixfold increase in their time spent on public records requests last year, rising from an average of 346 hours in the first quarter to 2,121 hours by the last quarter, according to, a company that provides cloud-based software to manage public records requests.
The AP still has requests pending in Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New York and Texas. Illinois this past week finally provided 74 pages of documents, heavily redacted. More than a half-dozen states — Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Washington — continue to suspend some open-records requirements through gubernatorial orders, according to an AP review of public-records policies.
Real tired of “gov’t” reps not responding to the will of the people since we are the ones empowering them. Either do your job or get Out of the way!
What happened to Biden transparency? Man can’t give a presser?
gtconway3d I’m absolutely positive the corrupt tRump loving Governor of my state has been hiding cases and deaths. The cemetery expanding regularly is a clue.
UROCKlive1 One more thing for the Biden White House to tackle.
gtconway3d Can you spell Republican States?
EverettHerald Shithole states. Maga states. GOP fiefdoms.
Since the passage of FOIA in 1974, I know of only one federal agency that honored the time limits, and that agency doesn't exist any more.
Laws do no good if not enforced
ACLU coronavirus411s
gtconway3d The main state and Govener in need of investigating is Florida and DeSantis with all the allegations leveled at him
That’s why people don’t believe in anything anymore. Plandemic !
Kingjames3080
gtconway3d I would too, if people are just going to whine about the data, while people, like Desantis gets away with cooking their books.
gtconway3d Reduced staff may be a bit overwhelmed. Or knowledgeable staff may not have survived the pandemic.
gtconway3d Desantis guilty big time
gtconway3d Florida biggest lies
gtconway3d It’s gonna take years for a full accounting of the COVID pandemic; what governors did/didn’t do bc of the utter chaos since there was no coordinated federal response that Trump threw it all on the governors to dodge blame. Lord knows the shambles the presidential archives are in
maggieNYT DonLDay...figured you might find this interesting (if you haven’t already seen it!)
maggieNYT Trump taught government officials and agencies that they don't have to follow rules and laws. And there is very little the citizens can do about it.
NOT GOOD
gtconway3d The Cuomo effect?
My adult sons changed their last name through the courts a year ago. They still have to go by their old last name because in order to complete the process, they need to apply for a new social security card, which requires them to MAIL their ORIGINAL birth certificate, ID, and
Nothing says guilty then hiding covid deaths in your own state. Those are family members, loved ones and their death is on the hands of those politicians that don’t want to look bad. Well done serial killers
ll
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