Whitey23
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You have to wonder what they want to hide and how that thing will help them win the Nat'l Championship as the Lt. Governor alludes to.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law yesterday legislation that will give state university athletic departments an unprecedented right to delay responding to open records requests. This is good news for that state’s biggest programs—new UGA football coach Kirby Smart personally lobbied lawmakers—and bad news for transparency.
As taxpayer-funded institutions, Georgia’s public colleges (including UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern) previously had three days to acknowledge requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. Not three days to turn over what reporters were looking for—three days merely to say “we got your request, we’re reviewing it.” Now, thanks to this new law, university athletic programs don’t have to even acknowledge requests for 90 days, and can commence the usual obfuscation after that.
A spokesman for Deal said the governor signed the bill into law because “it simply levels the playing field with other states that also have strong athletic programs like Georgia.” This is not true.
Other SEC states give athletic programs between three and 15 days to respond to FOIA requests. (The exceptions are Florida and Alabama, which require athletic departments to respond in a “reasonable” amount of time.)
“I hope it brings us a national championship,” Georgia’s lieutenant governor said today.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law yesterday legislation that will give state university athletic departments an unprecedented right to delay responding to open records requests. This is good news for that state’s biggest programs—new UGA football coach Kirby Smart personally lobbied lawmakers—and bad news for transparency.
As taxpayer-funded institutions, Georgia’s public colleges (including UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern) previously had three days to acknowledge requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. Not three days to turn over what reporters were looking for—three days merely to say “we got your request, we’re reviewing it.” Now, thanks to this new law, university athletic programs don’t have to even acknowledge requests for 90 days, and can commence the usual obfuscation after that.
A spokesman for Deal said the governor signed the bill into law because “it simply levels the playing field with other states that also have strong athletic programs like Georgia.” This is not true.
Other SEC states give athletic programs between three and 15 days to respond to FOIA requests. (The exceptions are Florida and Alabama, which require athletic departments to respond in a “reasonable” amount of time.)
“I hope it brings us a national championship,” Georgia’s lieutenant governor said today.
