7 September 2021: Hochul's Transparency Test

After 10 weeks, all but five of the Empire Center’s 63 requests for pandemic data remain unfulfilled

The nonpartisan Empire Center for Public Policy is making a very visible test of new New York Governor Kathy Hochul's pledge to provide more transparency into the state's COVID-related data and documents. It is posting status updates on the state's progress in fullfilling the Center's 63 total Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests:

When Governor Hochul took office last week, she inherited all but five of the 63 requests for comprehensive pandemic data that the Empire Center filed earlier this summer.

How quickly her administration chips away at that unfinished business will provide a yardstick of her commitment to governing transparently — and to ending a pattern of secrecy and deception that contributed to former Governor Cuomo’s downfall.

Here's their scorecard for measuring Governor Hochul's commitment to transparency:

That was where things stood on 2 September 2021, coinciding with state officials needing to address Hurricane Ida's aftermath and coming up on the Labor Day Holiday weekend. With those events fading into the past, Hochul has an opportunity to move things forward faster and, if obstructed at lower levels, to identify who in the state government is standing in the way.