Relates to the award of reasonable attorney's fees in certain proceedings

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic13

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why John Liu says this is needed

According to the New York Coalition For Open Government there is an open government crisis in New York State. The Coalition as a non-partisan, nonprofit organization has documented through their reports large scale noncompliance with open government laws. In random checks of local governments across the state the Coalition in 2022 found that: * 72% of towns were not posting meeting documents online as required by law. * 25% of towns.were not posting meeting minutes or recordings online as required by law. * 39% of counties failed to acknowledge a Coalition FOIL request within five business days as required by law.. * 28% of counties never acknowledged the Coalition FOIL request. * 73% of election boards failed to acknowledge a Coalition FOIL request within five business days as required by law. It took an average of 49 days just to receive meeting minutes from county Board of Elections Unlike other states, New York does not have an independent body with enforcement powers to address violations of the Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law. Other states also impose fines or criminal charges for violations of open government laws, such penalties are not available in New York. The only recourse available to the public in NY is retaining an attorney to file an Article 78 proceeding and hope that the court will award attorney fees. New York's current attorney fee statute is weaker than many other states and it is more difficult to obtain attorney fees when litigation is successful. In California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Loui- siana, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington, attorney fees are awarded if a party "prevails" in a lawsuit. New York's statute requires that a party "substantially prevail" before attorney fees will be awarded, which is a higher standard. After a plaintiff is successful in an Article 78 action, then a whole debate occurs as to whether the plaintiff "substantially prevailed" or not in order to receive attorney fees. New York's statute has an additional hurdle in that there must be an additional finding by the court that there was to reasonable basis for the agency to deny the FOIL request. This addi- tional finding is not required in the states listed above. Under the Open Meetings Law, if an agency believed there was a reason- able basis for holding an improper executive session then attorney fees will not be awarded. Whether there was a reasonable basis or not if a court determines that an executive session was improperly held a successful plaintiff should be reimbursed for their attorney fees and costs. The only recourse for the public to address violations of open govern- ment laws is through litigation, which is a difficult step for most people to take. New York's current law makes it harder than other states for a successful plaintiff to obtain attorney fees. There needs to be some Consequence for the large noncompliance with open government laws, as documented by the New York Coalition For Open Government. Improving New York's attorney fee statute will assist the public in being reimbursed attorney fees when they successfully prevail regarding an Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law violation.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.