Comments: I do not like any of Virginia money going to a French owned nuke, uranium mining company call Areva unless the Leaders of Virginia can prove the following the articles are not true!
How can Areva invest $Millions in American, please read the following:
Why is Virginia pushing a French Owned "Areva", a nuke and uranium mining company?
Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority : Follow the Monies from
Marshall Cohen registered to lobby on behalf of the following clients:
How can Areva invest $Millions in American, please read the following:
Why is Virginia pushing a French Owned "Areva", a nuke and uranium mining company?
Tracking AREVA Across the Globe
These following documents deal with AREVA’s activities globally. Makita believes that Nunavummiut have the right to know what sorts of actions AREVA takes globally, what sort of politicians they support and what impacts their mines and reactors have had on people worldwide.
There is so much more to AREVA than what the smiling faces at the company’s Information Office in Baker Lake let on!
—–
For instance, a colleague of Makita’s in Europe writes:
– The value of AREVA shares have declined 83% (!) since 2007.
– AREVA reported a huge financial loss in 2011: € 2.4 billion, on revenue of approx. € 8.4 billion.
– Their credit rating (“stand alone rating”) is VERY bad, one notch away from “junk paper”.
Please click here to read the info: http://makitanunavut.wordpress.com/tracking-areva-across-the-globe/
NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining
DAKAR, 30 March 2009 (IRIN) - After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.
Studies and residents’ testimonies have pointed to health and environmental dangers from mining operations owned and operated by both AREVA’s subsidiaries and the Niger government.
Salifou Adifou, 67, worked for 40 years as a driller at Niger’s SOMAÏR (Aïr Mountains Mining Company), a public-private venture with AREVA owning 63 percent.
The retiree told IRIN he has undiagnosed health problems. “I have stomach and chest pains, but since retirement [in 1999], I cannot afford health care.” Adifou said his friend who had worked as a miner is now bedridden.
Neither knows the cause of his health problems, Adifou told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/report/83706/niger-desert-residents-pay-high-price-for-lucrative-uranium-mining
More info: Exclusive: Niger audits Areva uranium mines, seeking better deal:
France relies for roughly three quarters of its electricity on nuclear reactors, which Areva builds and supplies with fuel. International uranium prices, however, have slumped after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, squeezing Areva's earnings.
The company, 87-percent owned by the French state, made a loss of 99 million euros last year, but expects to make an operating profit of more than 1.1 billion euros this year, helped in part by its uranium mining business.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/20/us-niger-areva-idUSBRE98J0MY20130920
Finland rejection deals blow to Areva's nuclear export ambitions
* Finland's Fennovoima drops Areva, Czechs confirm exclusion
* Areva not sold a reactor since 2007, hopes to sell 10 by 2016
* French greens call for parliament enquiry into cost overruns
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - French nuclear group Areva's exclusion from a Finnish nuclear tender is another blow to the reputation of its EPR reactor and raises questions about France's ambitious nuclear export plans.
Hours later, the Czech competition regulator ruled that utility CEZ had not broken public procurement law by excluding Areva from a contract last year.
Earlier this month Teollisuuden Voima - another Finnish utility, for which Areva is building its first European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) - announced further construction delays. The many delays and cost overruns have led to open conflict between Areva and Teollisuuden Voima.
Reactor sales and services generated sales of 3.45 billion in 2012, just over a third of its 9.34 billion euro total revenue, and most of the division's sales come from maintenance to its installed base of more than 100 reactors, nearly a quarter of the world's total.
http://www.reuters.com/finance
There is so much more to AREVA than what the smiling faces at the company’s Information Office in Baker Lake let on!
—–
For instance, a colleague of Makita’s in Europe writes:
– The value of AREVA shares have declined 83% (!) since 2007.
– AREVA reported a huge financial loss in 2011: € 2.4 billion, on revenue of approx. € 8.4 billion.
– Their credit rating (“stand alone rating”) is VERY bad, one notch away from “junk paper”.
Please click here to read the info: http://makitanunavut.wordpress.com/tracking-areva-across-the-globe/
NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining
DAKAR, 30 March 2009 (IRIN) - After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.
Studies and residents’ testimonies have pointed to health and environmental dangers from mining operations owned and operated by both AREVA’s subsidiaries and the Niger government.
Salifou Adifou, 67, worked for 40 years as a driller at Niger’s SOMAÏR (Aïr Mountains Mining Company), a public-private venture with AREVA owning 63 percent.
The retiree told IRIN he has undiagnosed health problems. “I have stomach and chest pains, but since retirement [in 1999], I cannot afford health care.” Adifou said his friend who had worked as a miner is now bedridden.
Neither knows the cause of his health problems, Adifou told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/report/83706/niger-desert-residents-pay-high-price-for-lucrative-uranium-mining
More info: Exclusive: Niger audits Areva uranium mines, seeking better deal:
France relies for roughly three quarters of its electricity on nuclear reactors, which Areva builds and supplies with fuel. International uranium prices, however, have slumped after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, squeezing Areva's earnings.
The company, 87-percent owned by the French state, made a loss of 99 million euros last year, but expects to make an operating profit of more than 1.1 billion euros this year, helped in part by its uranium mining business.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/20/us-niger-areva-idUSBRE98J0MY20130920
Finland rejection deals blow to Areva's nuclear export ambitions
* Finland's Fennovoima drops Areva, Czechs confirm exclusion
* Areva not sold a reactor since 2007, hopes to sell 10 by 2016
* French greens call for parliament enquiry into cost overruns
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - French nuclear group Areva's exclusion from a Finnish nuclear tender is another blow to the reputation of its EPR reactor and raises questions about France's ambitious nuclear export plans.
Hours later, the Czech competition regulator ruled that utility CEZ had not broken public procurement law by excluding Areva from a contract last year.
Earlier this month Teollisuuden Voima - another Finnish utility, for which Areva is building its first European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) - announced further construction delays. The many delays and cost overruns have led to open conflict between Areva and Teollisuuden Voima.
Reactor sales and services generated sales of 3.45 billion in 2012, just over a third of its 9.34 billion euro total revenue, and most of the division's sales come from maintenance to its installed base of more than 100 reactors, nearly a quarter of the world's total.
http://www.reuters.com/finance
Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority : Follow the Monies from
· Marshall Cohen of Fairfax, Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications at The Babcock and Wilcox Company
· David Christian of Toano, Executive Vice President of Dominion Resources and CEO of Dominion Generation
| $23,562 | Dominion |
· Colleen Deegan of Rockville, Maryland, Vice President of Government Programs for Bechtel
Registered Lobbyists
Employees:
· Donald R. Hoffman of Bethesda, Maryland, President and CEO of Excel Services Corporation and President of the American Nuclear Society
· Maureen Matsen of Richmond, Counsel for Christopher Newport University
· Matthew J. Mulherin of Yorktown, President of Newport News Shipbuilding and Corporate Vice President of Huntington Ingalls Industries
· Dr. Ganapati Myneni of Yorktown, Senior Scientist at Jefferson Lab
· Michael Rencheck of Powell, Ohio, President and CEO of AREVA, Inc.
· Ron Sones of Gladstone, Professor of Business at Liberty University and President of SIBS LLC
· Kiyoshi Yamauchi of Arlington, Chief Executive Director of Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems, Inc.
Delegate Garrett Lauds Appointment of Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority Board of Directors
Governor appoints 10 members to the 17-member Board
Lynchburg, VA – Today, Governor Bob McDonnell appointed ten members to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Authority Consortium, which was created during the 2013 General Assembly Session with the passage of House Bill 1790 and Senate Bill 1138.
The purpose of the legislation, sponsored by Delegate T. Scott Garrett, M.D. (R- Lynchburg), and Senator Jeff McWaters (R- Virginia Beach) is to make Virginia a national and global leader in nuclear energy by leveraging the expertise and resources it has available to attract nuclear energy projects, provide training and education programs, and facilitate valuable partnerships.
In addition to the ten members of the Authority’s Board appointed by the Governor today, seven members are prescribed in the legislation by occupation. By January 1, 2014, the 17-member Board must establish the “Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium”, a non-stock, non-profit corporation made up of members of higher education, Virginia’s nuclear industry, and not-for-profits that promote nuclear energy.
“I am pleased that Governor Bob McDonnell appointed members of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Authority Board today. This is the first step in the creation of a meaningful collaboration that will gather Virginia’s nuclear industry partners around a single table to identify opportunities and develop strategies for supporting and expanding the nuclear industry in Virginia.
I look forward to seeing how this organization will positively impact an industry that is not only essential to Virginia, but specifically to our community,” said Delegate Garrett.
Delegate T. Scott Garrett, M.D. represents the 23rd District in the Virginia General Assembly, which includes portions of Amherst County, Bedford County, and the City of Lynchburg.
http://www.tscottgarrett.com/wordpress/delegate-garrett-lauds-appointment-of-virginia-nuclear-energy-consortium-authority-board-of-directors/
Lynchburg, VA – Today, Governor Bob McDonnell appointed ten members to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Authority Consortium, which was created during the 2013 General Assembly Session with the passage of House Bill 1790 and Senate Bill 1138.
The purpose of the legislation, sponsored by Delegate T. Scott Garrett, M.D. (R- Lynchburg), and Senator Jeff McWaters (R- Virginia Beach) is to make Virginia a national and global leader in nuclear energy by leveraging the expertise and resources it has available to attract nuclear energy projects, provide training and education programs, and facilitate valuable partnerships.
In addition to the ten members of the Authority’s Board appointed by the Governor today, seven members are prescribed in the legislation by occupation. By January 1, 2014, the 17-member Board must establish the “Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium”, a non-stock, non-profit corporation made up of members of higher education, Virginia’s nuclear industry, and not-for-profits that promote nuclear energy.
“I am pleased that Governor Bob McDonnell appointed members of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Authority Board today. This is the first step in the creation of a meaningful collaboration that will gather Virginia’s nuclear industry partners around a single table to identify opportunities and develop strategies for supporting and expanding the nuclear industry in Virginia.
I look forward to seeing how this organization will positively impact an industry that is not only essential to Virginia, but specifically to our community,” said Delegate Garrett.
Delegate T. Scott Garrett, M.D. represents the 23rd District in the Virginia General Assembly, which includes portions of Amherst County, Bedford County, and the City of Lynchburg.
http://www.tscottgarrett.com/wordpress/delegate-garrett-lauds-appointment-of-virginia-nuclear-energy-consortium-authority-board-of-directors/
Three Historic Triangle Residents Appointed to New State Authority’s Board
Gov. Bob McDonnell announced three Historic Triangle residents have been
appointed to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium
Authority.
McDonnell appointed Yorktown residents Matthew Mulherin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding and corporate vice president of Huntington Ingalls Industries and Dr. Ganapati Myneni, senior scientist at Jefferson Lab to the board. Also, Toano resident David Christian, executive vice president of Dominion Resources and CEO of Dominion Generation, was also appointed.
http://wydaily.com/2013/09/09/three-historic-triangle-residents-appointed-to-new-state-authoritys-board/
McDonnell appointed Yorktown residents Matthew Mulherin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding and corporate vice president of Huntington Ingalls Industries and Dr. Ganapati Myneni, senior scientist at Jefferson Lab to the board. Also, Toano resident David Christian, executive vice president of Dominion Resources and CEO of Dominion Generation, was also appointed.
http://wydaily.com/2013/09/09/three-historic-triangle-residents-appointed-to-new-state-authoritys-board/
Ali Morris joined the group Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium.
[1]
By Kathryn Watson | Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau
ALEXANDRIA—Case closed. Virginia can deny records to non-residents without disobeying the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday [2] that a provision in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act [3] law giving state and local governments the authority to withhold public records from non-Virginia residents is completely constitutional, sending the message to the Old Dominion and the rest of the nation that access to public records isn’t a fundamental right.
“This Court has repeatedly made clear that there is no constitutional right to obtain all the information provided by FOIA laws,” reads the opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito [4].
Virginia is currently one of only three states in the nation with such a residents-only provision, as more and more states have opened their records to all U.S. citizens in recent decades. Arkansas and Tennessee are the other two outliers.
But open records advocates fear the Supreme Court’s ruling validates the practices of an already tradition-entrenched commonwealth, and gives other states implicit permission to further restrict access to their records.
“It said basically we don’t think freedom of information is all that important,” said Kevin Goldberg, counsel for the American Society of Newspaper Editors — one of the dozens of journalistic, transparency and commercial groups that fought against the Virginia law in court.
As Alito pointed out in the Supreme Court’s opinion, there are plenty of ways to get around the Virginia law. Non-residents can and often do recruit someone in state to make their requests. And Virginia oftentimes gives records to out-of-state residents — it just doesn’t have to by law.
“Hopefully, Virginia’s legislators will take another look at the restriction in light of this decision, and perhaps change it,” said Ken Bunting, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, in an email. “And hopefully, this holding will not embolden other states to enact such restrictions.”
Still, those are only hopes.
Goldberg fears that, nationally at least, restriction could become a reality.
“Does it embolden other states to take actions, whether they are enacting a similar citizens-only provision or other steps? Probably,” Goldberg said.
MCBURNEY V. YOUNG
The case now known as McBurney v. Young [5]began when Roger Hurlbert, a California business owner, and Mark McBurney, a Rhode Island resident, requested public records from Virginia. McBurney, formerly of Virginia, wanted information from the Division of Child Support Enforcement in a case against his ex-wife, who defaulted on child support obligations. Hurlbert called Henrico County officials for property-assessment information for his business, which sells data to private clients.
Both were denied access, and both sued, facing Nathaniel Young, deputy commissioner and director for the Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement. The Fourth Circuit approved the Virginia law, while the Third Circuit struck it down.
Open records advocates say Virginia’s FOIA law is problematic for various reasons.
For one thing, it blocks even those who call the Old Dominion home from obtaining documents. Someone who grows up in the state and moves, or still has elderly parents in the commonwealth, for instance, isn’t guaranteed access.
And in today’s mobile and interconnected world, access to information beyond state borders is more needed than it was in the past, said Mark Caramanica, freedom of information director for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
“The Court failed to recognize how important access to information is to a modern, interconnected society where events that shape citizens’ lives know no geographic borders,” Caramanica said in an emailed statement. “As we argued in our amicus brief, journalists often need access to records in all 50 states in order to comprehensively inform the public on important matters.”
Open government advocates are at odds with Republican Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who says Virginia records should remain with Virginia taxpayers.
“We appreciate the unanimous decision of the justices,” Cuccinelli said in a statement. “FOIA is an important tool to ensure open government. But responding to FOIA requests is a financial burden on Virginia taxpayers, because while state employees are looking through documents to respond to requests, they can’t do the normal work for the citizens of the commonwealth they are paid to do.
Open government advocates, however, have long argued that Cuccinelli’s claim is a faulty one, as Virginia state agencies can charge anyone the full price tag of labor, printing and other costs associated with FOIA requests.
TRANSPARENCY AT A CROSSROADS IN VIRGINIA
The Supreme Court’s affirmation of Virginia’s record restrictions comes at a critical time for Virginia, said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Williamsburg-based Virginia Coalition for Open Government [6].
“I really think that it’s an important time right now,” Rhyne said. “There’s been a real back-peddling of access to information. And I’m hoping that maybe this will spur some people to realize that if we don’t exercise our rights under these laws, that we’re going to have less and less access.”
This year, the Legislature gave legislative aides the same FOIA exemption privileges as their lawmaker bosses, and exempted the Nuclear Energy Consortium from the law altogether. Public-private partnerships, which require few documents to be made public but still use public dollars, are proliferating.
Now, the highest court in the land seemingly affirms Virginia’s inclination when it comes to transparency — complacency and opacity, said Delegate Mark Keam, D-Vienna.
Keam filed a bill this legislative session to open Virginia’s public records to all U.S. citizens.
“I think Virginia is a conservative state where we just don’t like change,” Keam said. “We’ve done things a certain way for so long, why rock the boat and change things?”
Tom Fitton, president of government watchdog Judicial Watch [7], called Virginia’s law an “embarrassment” to the home of James Madison, who said freedom and access to information have to go hand-in-hand.
“They kind of need to figure out their history,” Fitton said.
But for the public to access information, that information has to be public first.
Keam pointed to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s [8] failure to report a $15,000 wedding catering gift from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams to McDonnell’s daughter. Virginia doesn’t require office holders to report gifts to family members [9].
The time to close those loopholes may be now, Keam said.
“In light of Gov. McDonnell’s situation, questions come up,” Keam said. “… I think that’s a legitimate concern.”
FOIA FIGHT CONTINUES
The debate over Virginia’s FOIA law isn’t over.
“This is a wakeup call to really reflect and see where we are,” Keam said.
Virginia’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council [10], a state agency that makes recommendations on FOIA-related laws and issues, will hash out his bill on May 20. And the bill will almost certainly return before lawmakers in 2014.
The question is, will Virginia lawmakers — and the next governor elected by Virginians in November — match their actions with their words when it comes to transparency?
It all comes down to the leader living in the executive mansion, Keam said.
“I think it’ll depend on how much the next governor pushes,” Keam said.
Kathryn Watson is a reporter for the Watchdog.org’s Virginia Bureau, and can be reached at katie@watchdogvirginia.org. or (571) 385-0773.
Article printed from Watchdog.org: http://watchdog.org
URL to article: http://watchdog.org/82244/supreme-court-foia-ruling-sends-ripple-effects-across-va-nation/
URLs in this post:
Supreme Court FOIA ruling sends ripple effects across VA, nation
Posted By Kathryn Watson On April 30, 2013 @ 1:11 pm
[1]
DENIED ACCESS: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that Virginia — and in essence, other states — can restrict access to records to in-state residents.
ALEXANDRIA—Case closed. Virginia can deny records to non-residents without disobeying the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday [2] that a provision in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act [3] law giving state and local governments the authority to withhold public records from non-Virginia residents is completely constitutional, sending the message to the Old Dominion and the rest of the nation that access to public records isn’t a fundamental right.
“This Court has repeatedly made clear that there is no constitutional right to obtain all the information provided by FOIA laws,” reads the opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito [4].
Virginia is currently one of only three states in the nation with such a residents-only provision, as more and more states have opened their records to all U.S. citizens in recent decades. Arkansas and Tennessee are the other two outliers.
But open records advocates fear the Supreme Court’s ruling validates the practices of an already tradition-entrenched commonwealth, and gives other states implicit permission to further restrict access to their records.
“It said basically we don’t think freedom of information is all that important,” said Kevin Goldberg, counsel for the American Society of Newspaper Editors — one of the dozens of journalistic, transparency and commercial groups that fought against the Virginia law in court.
As Alito pointed out in the Supreme Court’s opinion, there are plenty of ways to get around the Virginia law. Non-residents can and often do recruit someone in state to make their requests. And Virginia oftentimes gives records to out-of-state residents — it just doesn’t have to by law.
“Hopefully, Virginia’s legislators will take another look at the restriction in light of this decision, and perhaps change it,” said Ken Bunting, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, in an email. “And hopefully, this holding will not embolden other states to enact such restrictions.”
Still, those are only hopes.
Goldberg fears that, nationally at least, restriction could become a reality.
“Does it embolden other states to take actions, whether they are enacting a similar citizens-only provision or other steps? Probably,” Goldberg said.
MCBURNEY V. YOUNG
The case now known as McBurney v. Young [5]began when Roger Hurlbert, a California business owner, and Mark McBurney, a Rhode Island resident, requested public records from Virginia. McBurney, formerly of Virginia, wanted information from the Division of Child Support Enforcement in a case against his ex-wife, who defaulted on child support obligations. Hurlbert called Henrico County officials for property-assessment information for his business, which sells data to private clients.
Both were denied access, and both sued, facing Nathaniel Young, deputy commissioner and director for the Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement. The Fourth Circuit approved the Virginia law, while the Third Circuit struck it down.
Open records advocates say Virginia’s FOIA law is problematic for various reasons.
For one thing, it blocks even those who call the Old Dominion home from obtaining documents. Someone who grows up in the state and moves, or still has elderly parents in the commonwealth, for instance, isn’t guaranteed access.
And in today’s mobile and interconnected world, access to information beyond state borders is more needed than it was in the past, said Mark Caramanica, freedom of information director for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
“The Court failed to recognize how important access to information is to a modern, interconnected society where events that shape citizens’ lives know no geographic borders,” Caramanica said in an emailed statement. “As we argued in our amicus brief, journalists often need access to records in all 50 states in order to comprehensively inform the public on important matters.”
Open government advocates are at odds with Republican Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who says Virginia records should remain with Virginia taxpayers.
“We appreciate the unanimous decision of the justices,” Cuccinelli said in a statement. “FOIA is an important tool to ensure open government. But responding to FOIA requests is a financial burden on Virginia taxpayers, because while state employees are looking through documents to respond to requests, they can’t do the normal work for the citizens of the commonwealth they are paid to do.
Open government advocates, however, have long argued that Cuccinelli’s claim is a faulty one, as Virginia state agencies can charge anyone the full price tag of labor, printing and other costs associated with FOIA requests.
TRANSPARENCY AT A CROSSROADS IN VIRGINIA
The Supreme Court’s affirmation of Virginia’s record restrictions comes at a critical time for Virginia, said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Williamsburg-based Virginia Coalition for Open Government [6].
“I really think that it’s an important time right now,” Rhyne said. “There’s been a real back-peddling of access to information. And I’m hoping that maybe this will spur some people to realize that if we don’t exercise our rights under these laws, that we’re going to have less and less access.”
This year, the Legislature gave legislative aides the same FOIA exemption privileges as their lawmaker bosses, and exempted the Nuclear Energy Consortium from the law altogether. Public-private partnerships, which require few documents to be made public but still use public dollars, are proliferating.
Now, the highest court in the land seemingly affirms Virginia’s inclination when it comes to transparency — complacency and opacity, said Delegate Mark Keam, D-Vienna.
Keam filed a bill this legislative session to open Virginia’s public records to all U.S. citizens.
“I think Virginia is a conservative state where we just don’t like change,” Keam said. “We’ve done things a certain way for so long, why rock the boat and change things?”
Tom Fitton, president of government watchdog Judicial Watch [7], called Virginia’s law an “embarrassment” to the home of James Madison, who said freedom and access to information have to go hand-in-hand.
“They kind of need to figure out their history,” Fitton said.
But for the public to access information, that information has to be public first.
Keam pointed to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s [8] failure to report a $15,000 wedding catering gift from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams to McDonnell’s daughter. Virginia doesn’t require office holders to report gifts to family members [9].
The time to close those loopholes may be now, Keam said.
“In light of Gov. McDonnell’s situation, questions come up,” Keam said. “… I think that’s a legitimate concern.”
FOIA FIGHT CONTINUES
The debate over Virginia’s FOIA law isn’t over.
“This is a wakeup call to really reflect and see where we are,” Keam said.
Virginia’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council [10], a state agency that makes recommendations on FOIA-related laws and issues, will hash out his bill on May 20. And the bill will almost certainly return before lawmakers in 2014.
The question is, will Virginia lawmakers — and the next governor elected by Virginians in November — match their actions with their words when it comes to transparency?
It all comes down to the leader living in the executive mansion, Keam said.
“I think it’ll depend on how much the next governor pushes,” Keam said.
Kathryn Watson is a reporter for the Watchdog.org’s Virginia Bureau, and can be reached at katie@watchdogvirginia.org. or (571) 385-0773.
Article printed from Watchdog.org: http://watchdog.org
URL to article: http://watchdog.org/82244/supreme-court-foia-ruling-sends-ripple-effects-across-va-nation/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://watchdog.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/04/Unknown-12.jpeg
[2] unanimously ruled on Monday: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/mcburney-v-young/
[3] Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+TOC02020000037000000000000
[4] Samuel Alito: http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Samuel_Alito
[5] McBurney v. Young : http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/desktop/public/document/McBurney_v_Young_No_1217_2013_BL_113068_US_Apr_29_2013_Court_Opin
[6] Virginia Coalition for Open Government: http://www.opengovva.org
[7] Judicial Watch: http://www.judicialwatch.org
[8] Bob McDonnell’s: http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Bob_McDonnell
[9] Virginia doesn’t require office holders to report gifts to family members: http://watchdog.org/79315/are-virginias-conflict-of-interest-disclosures-tough-enough/
[10] Freedom of Information Advisory Council: http://foiacouncil.dls.virginia.gov
