Senate Bill 246 Summary

• Restructures the Freedom of Information Act (1976 PA 442) by designating existing provisions as Part 1 and adding a new Part 2 creating a separate Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) for the state legislature.

• Expands FOIA to include gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial offices with specific exemptions for appointment records, removal decisions, budget recommendations, and messages to the legislature.

• Establishes detailed fee structures for public records requests, including labor costs (capped at lowest-paid employee wage), copying costs (capped at 10 cents per page for standard copies), and mailing costs, with provisions for fee waivers for indigent individuals.

• Creates LORA for legislative records with a 15-day possession threshold before records become public, designates LORA coordinators for the legislature, and establishes a reconsideration and appeal process through the legislative council administrator.

• Requires public bodies to establish and publicly post procedures and guidelines for handling records requests, provide detailed itemized fee statements, and implement penalties (5% daily reduction in labor charges, maximum 50% reduction) for willful and intentional late responses beyond the 5-business-day deadline.