April 24, 2024
Nyasha Smith, Secretary
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Secretary Smith,
Today, I am introducing the Transparency Is Accountability Amendment Act of 2024. Please
find enclosed a signed copy of the legislation, which is co- introduced by Councilmember
Brianne K. Nadeau.
One of the most important forms of accountability for government operations is transparency,
and one of the principal mechanisms for delivering that transparency is the District of Columbia
Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, D.C. Official Code § 2- 531 et seq. While this law in
theory provides members of the public —including the press —access to public records, the
reality of FOIA practice is some what different. F ar too often, government records pertaining to
basic government functions or that shed light on government misconduct are withheld—
depriving the public of critical information and frustrating the transparency and accountability
objectives of FOIA. At a time when local news outlets are struggling and council offices face
routine difficulties securing information from the Office of Unified Communications and other
agencies with significant performance issues, public access to records is more important than
ever.
The Transparency Is Accountability Amendment Act of 2024 makes targeted changes to D .C.’s
FOIA to enhance the ability of the public to obtain critical information about agency operations
and to incentivize efficient and responsible government conduct through greater transparency.
This legislation will:
(1) Clarify that 911 call records cannot be withheld under the personal privacy exemption where
the name and number of the caller is redacted (while also allowing a caller to provide written
consent for this information to be disclosed) ;
2
(2) Ensure that oft en used exemption for inter-agency and intra-agency memoranda cannot
be used to withhold information regarding government misconduct, including
discrimination, violations of criminal law, and sexual harassment;
(3) Require agencies to identify a specific, foreseeable harm when asserting an exemption to
disclosure and to consider discretionary releases of information wh en the likelihood of
significant harm occurring is low and the public interest in the information is high;
1
and
(4) Require the disclosure of information withheld under the deliberative process if the
public’s interest in disclosure outweighs the District’s interest in secrecy.
Enacting these changes will help bolster efforts to weed out unethical and unlawful conduct in
the District’ s executive and legislative branches and ensure that District residents are better
equipped to hold their elected and appointed representatives accountable.
Please contact my Deputy Chief of Staff , Conor Shaw, at cshaw@dccouncil.gov if you have any
questions about this legislation.
Sincerely,
Zachary Parker
Ward 5 Councilmember
1
These changes reflect current federal FOIA law and practice prompted by the FOIA
Improvement Act of 2016 (P.L . 114-185) as well as guidelines issued by United States Attorney
General Merrick Garland on March 15, 2022. 1
___________________________ ______________________________ 2
Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau Councilmember Zachary Parker 3
4
5
A BILL 6
7
_________________________ 8
9
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 10
11
_________________________ 12
13
14
To amend the Freedom of Information Act of 1976 to improve public access to critical records, 15
including 911 transcripts and recordings, documents regarding government misconduct, 16
and deliberative materials when the public interest in disclosure outweighs the District’s 17
interest in secrecy. 18
19
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may 20
be cited as the “Transparency Is Accountability Amendment Act of 2024”. 21
Sec. 2. The Freedom of Information Act of 1976 (D.C. Law 1-96; D.C. Official Code § 2-22
534(a)), is amended as follows: 23
(a) Paragraph (a)(2) is amended to read as follows:24
“(2) Information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute 25
a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, excluding audio or transcripts of calls to 911 26
and other 911 radio, including dispatches and agency to agency communications, where the 911 27
caller’s name and contact information has been redacted ; provided, that the agency shall not 28
redact the personal information of the person requesting the record or a person who has expressly 29
consented to disclosure of the information in writing .” 30
(b) Paragraph (a)(4) is amended to read as follows31
“(4) Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters, including memorandums or 32
2
letters generated or received by the staff or members of the Council, which would not be 33
available by law to a party other than a public body in litigation with the public body. This 34
exemption shall not apply to information regarding government misconduct, including actions, 35
policies, or decisions that violate the District’s Code of Conduct as defined by Section 101 of the 36
Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Establishment and Comprehensive Ethics 37
Reform Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Law 19-318; D.C. Official Code § 1 –1161.01(7); the 38
District of Columbia Theft and White Collar Crimes Act of 1982 (D.C. Official Code Title 22, 39
Chapters 7, 24, 32); the Human Rights Act of 1977 (D.C. Law 2- 38; D.C. Official Code §§ 2-40
1401.01 et seq.); and Mayor’s Order 2023- 131 (October 31, 2023) and any superseding order.” 41
(c) Subsection (b) is amended by: 42
(1) inserting the sentence “An agency shall withhold information under this 43
section only if the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected 44
by subsection (a).” before the word “Any”; and 45
(2) inserting the sentence “An agency shall apply a presumption of openness 46
when applying this section and shall consider discretionary releases of information when the 47
reasonable likelihood of significant harm occurring is low and the public interest in the 48
information is high.” after the phrase “where the deletion was made.” 49
(d) A new subsection ( f) is inserted to read as follows: 50
“(f) Information withheld under the deliberative process privilege shall be disclosed if the 51
public’s interest in disclosure outweighs the District’s interest in secrecy.” 52
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 53
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 54
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 55
3
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1- 301.47a). 56
Sec. 4. Effective date. 57
This act shall take effect after approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 58
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30- day period of congressional review as 59
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 60
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1- 206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 61
Columbia Register. 62