While transparent State government was a key point in Governor Cuomo’s “Clean Up Albany” manifesto, one tool that was supposed to be crucial for transparency, the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), has instead yielded less information lately.

Access to data from New York State has been an ongoing challenge. Nearly all of the FOIL requests Tri-State has made have been met with delays, most often in the form of (multiple) deadline extensions. Much of the information requested has been from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), including information on the Tappan Zee Bridge financing plan and environmental impact state/bus rapid transit cost estimates and the cancelled Strategic Transportation Enhancements Program (STEP). But these types of denial-through-delay tactics are not NYSDOT specific. In fact, a recent watchdog report by Gannett found that “Administration agencies have a pattern of multiple deadline extensions on [FOIL] requests. The extensions are routinely blamed — without specifics — on the large number of FOIL requests the state receives.”

The delay in production of the STEP records requested by Tri-State is an unfortunate — yet typical — example of how the delays happen. NYSDOT, through a STEP announcement, requested funding applications for high-priority transportation projects in each of NYSDOT’s 11 regions. The program, however, was abruptly cancelled, despite the fact that applications had already been submitted. To better understand transportation needs throughout the state, Tri-State sought to examine the applications and submitted a FOIL request in February 2013 for the applications, yet to date, NYSDOT has not produced the requested materials. The Department’s most recent request for extension came in November, making a total of five of extensions in a ten month period.

This lack of transparency extends beyond FOIL requests. This past summer, NYSDOT was criticized for leaving the community in the dark as plans to revamp a 16-mile stretch of Sunrise Highway in Nassau County were coming together. The lack of outreach prompted a coalition of elected officials, business groups and advocates (including Tri-State) to send a letter to Commissioner Joan McDonald requesting a meeting to discuss the plans.

In addition, the State plans to continue the opacity surrounding the use of dedicated transit funds for non-transit purposes. In 2011 and again earlier this year, Governor Cuomo did not sign bills — unanimously passed by the legislature — that would have ensured funds dedicated to transit would only go toward transit costs. The resistance to these “lockbox” measures continues to leave open the possibility that transit funds could easily (and without explanation) be siphoned away by the administration to close up funding gaps elsewhere in the budget.

A lack of transparency has been noted by others, too. In a recent piece by Liz Benjamin, she notes:

Cuomo’s attempt to position himself as “absolutely transparent in everything he does,” in the words of Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy, turned to mush in fairly short order. While he improved access to some online data, the data were provided selectively. And the administration’s overall relationship with the media has been extraordinarily bad.

While technological tools championed by Governor Cuomo have made more information available in general, the poor response rate to FOIL requests is a red flag that the State wields powerful discretion over what specific information the public can actually gain access to.