BILL NUMBER: S9777
SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring enti-
ties that submit records to state agencies that are excepted from
disclosure under the freedom of information law to periodically re-apply
for the exception
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to provide for greater disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Law.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
This bill would require that, subsequent to the effective date, when an
entity submits a request to a state agency to have trade secrets
excluded from release under the Freedom of Information Law, the request
must specifically identify which portions of the record are to be
excluded. The requester would also be able to set an expiration date for
the exclusions, provided that such a date is not greater than 3 years.
If the state agency agrees to the exclusions and the submitter did not
set an expiration date, after 3 years the submitter must apply to the
agency for a 3-year extension, upon which the agency must make a deter-
mination as to if the exclusions should be extended. If the submitter
does not apply for the extension, the exclusion will be considered to
have expired. The bill also makes some technical changes to the Public
Meetings Law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current law, when an entity submits records to a state agency,
that entity may identify portions of those records that should be
excluded from release under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) as
trade secrets. If approved, the exclusion remains in force until a FOIL
request is made for those records. The agency must then contact the
entity to determine if the records must continue to be with- held or if
they can be released. If no FOIL request is made, the exclusion remains
in force indefinitely.
This bill would streamline this process by requiring entities to reapply
for the exclusion every 3 years. If an entity does not re-apply, the
exclusion is considered to be expired and the document can be released
when a FOIL request is made.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.5000 of 2025 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Rules
S.3257 of 2024 (Hoylman-Sigal): Passed Senate
S.1506 of 2022 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Rules
S.0027 of 2020(Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Investigations and Government
Operations
S.0079 of 2018 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Investigations and Government
Operations
S.2921-A of 2016 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Investigations & Government
Operations
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The act shall take effect immediately.