Kathy Patterson
A
BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Councilmember
Kathy Patterson introduced the following bill which was referred to the
Committee on Government Operations.
To
amend the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act, to provide
that the Council of the District of Columbia shall be subject to the
exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act similar to executive
branch agencies, to explicitly incorporate the privileges available under
the inter-agency memoranda exemption, and to clarify the nature of the
deliberative process privilege as applied to the Council of the District
of Columbia.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may
be cited as the "Freedom of Information Inter-agency Memoranda
Exemption Amendment Act of 2002".
Sec.
2. Section 204 of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act,
approved March 25, 1977 (D.C. Law 1-96; D.C. Official Code §2-534), is
amended to insert a new subsection (e) to read as follows:
"(e)
All exemptions available under this section shall apply to the Council of
the District of Columbia as well as executive branch agencies of the
District of Columbia government. The deliberative process privilege, the
attorney work-product privilege, and the attorney-client privilege are
incorporated under the inter-agency memoranda exemption listed in
subsection (a)(4), and these privileges, among other privileges that may be
found by the court, shall extend to any public body
that is subject to this act. Memoranda created by and exchanged between
staff and members of the District of Columbia Council shall be exempt from
disclosure to the extent that such memoranda represent predecisional
documents that were written in the process of developing legislation,
drafting budget reports, or conducting oversight hearings.
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact
statement.
The Council adopts
the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact
statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home
Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code §
1-206.02(c)(3))
Sec. 4. This act
shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto
by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period
of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District
of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C.
Official Code §1-206.02(c)(1), and publication in the District of
Columbia Register.