Fixing FOI

The Cornyn-Leahy bill, dubbed the "Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act" (S. 394) goes further. It would create a program to mediate disputes between the government and FOI Act requesters; prohibit agencies from using FOI Act exemptions if they exceed the 20-day response time and allow requesters to track their FOI Act requests, among other provisions.
For now, the senators have not tackled the overuse of exemptions to the FOI Act. Instead they have concentrated on these procedural changes, what Ho calls "common sense" reforms.
In March, Cornyn and Leahy teamed with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to introduce the "Faster FOIA Act" (S. 589) that would create and empower a 16-member commission to advise Congress and the president about FOI Act processing delays and ways to reduce them.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, introduced the House version of the bills — "OPEN Government Act" (H R. 867) and the "Faster FOI Act" (H.R. 1620).
In March, during the first Senate hearing on the FOI Act since 1992, groups as diverse as the conservative Heritage Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union told the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security that they support the proposed FOI Act reforms.