Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics Republican state Senators Jim Tedisco and Daphne Jordan February 15, announced a bill that would criminalize violations of the state's open government and records access laws. The bill would add a criminal penalty for any failure to adhere to Freedom of Information Law requests, which have been known to languish without legal action. Currently, one of the few consequences for government when losing a Freedom of Information Law case is paying a plaintiff's legal fees. The proposal comes after the Empire Center, a right-leaning think tank based in Albany, and Tedisco won a court challenge for the release of more detailed data on the deaths of nursing home and long-term care facility residents during the pandemic. "This is public information, and people have a right to know what their government is doing on their behalf," Tedisco said. Jordan added that taxpayers should not be on the hook for FOIL challenges. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.