Sunshine Week Home Page » Sunshine Week and Sunshine Campaign Toolkit » Sunshine Week 2006 Toolkit Archive »

Opinion Column by Robert J. Freeman

Published: February 14, 2006
Last Updated: February 14, 2006

There is no doubt that there is a cost incurred by state and local government agencies when they must locate records, review them and make them available following requests made under a freedom of information law (FOIL). But it is equally clear that disclosures by those agencies as a result of the use of FOIL save taxpayers millions of dollars—far more than the cost of implementing the law.

To illustrate, in July, The New York Times published articles concerning fraud and abuse in New York’s Medicaid program. In the first, it was reported that:

"Though the program is a vital resource for 4.2 million poor people who rely on it for their health care, a yearlong investigation by The Times found that the program has been misspending billions of dollars annually because of fraud, waste and profiteering. A computer analysis of several million records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law revealed numerous indications of fraud and abuse that the state had never looked into" (July 18, 2005).

Just two days later, the Times wrote that:

"Gov. George E. Pataki yesterday ordered a broad overhaul of the state agencies that protect Medicaid from fraud and abuse, creating an independent inspector general’s office and bringing in a former federal prosecutor to help reorganize the policing of the program, which is New York State’s largest expense" (July 20, 2005).

The designation of an inspector general coupled with better oversight of Medicaid by the agencies responsible for its implementation will result in less fraud and waste, and a significant savings to taxpayers. Just as important, when Medicaid providers know that the government is watching, they will be less likely to cheat. Disclosure, even the possibility of disclosure, will save taxpayers’ money. Assuming that the moneys paid by Medicaid involving "fraud, waste and profiteering" run into the millions, the use of FOIL by the Times, the publication of its findings, and the remedial action taken by government agencies will save taxpayers millions and perhaps billions of dollars over the course of years.

Another example of the use of FOIL to save taxpayers’ money involves Albany Times-Union stories concerning the abuse of E-Z Pass, New York’s electronic toll collection program. Following articles that named names and concluded that the state was owed millions, an editorial stated that:

"With the state scrambling to close a $4 billion budget gap, coming up with $3.4 million in uncollected E-ZPass Thruway tolls might seem like small potatoes. So, too, might the nearly $20 million in fines that Thruway Authority officials are owed by motorists.

"But to borrow from a famous saying by the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, a million here, a million there, and pretty soon it adds up to real money."

Soon after the Times-Union articles appeared, the Thruway Authority announced that it had retained a collection agency to attempt to recover the money for uncollected tolls and the fines. Even if a quarter of the total is eventually collected, taxpayers will gain more than $5 million as a result of the use of the FOIL.

Throughout New York and the rest of the nation, when government agencies solicit bids for the purchase of goods and services, and a potential bidder uses the FOIL to obtain the current contract involving the purchase of similar items, that company can submit a new competitive bid for the upcoming purchase and offer the agency a better deal. When we consider the purchases by counties, cities, towns, school districts and state agencies, taxpayers realize untold savings due to disclosures made pursuant to the FOIL that likely involve millions of dollars each year.

To reiterate Sen. Dirksen’s observation, pretty soon it adds up to real money.

In short, FOIL saves money!

Freeman is Executive Director of the New York State Committee on Open Government in Albany.