The sun subordinates the transparency of the government in Florida

Florida, the “Sunshine State”, once known as a beacon of the transparency of the government, is becoming increasingly darker and the clouds are spreading in the USA.

From March 16 to March 22, 2025, the nation celebrates the 20th anniversary of the National Sunshine Week, which comes in Florida and who historically is home to the most transparent and accountable governments in the country.

Times have changed.

At the University of Florida Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project, my colleagues and I have researched and applied about freedom of information since 1977

But first we look back on sunnier days.

Sun rises

Florida issued its first version of a law on public records in 1909, the sixth state that did this. The movement was cited in 1866 by Nebraska and Montana in 1895. The law of Florida was canceled in the 1950s and returned as a sunshine law in 1967.

“Sunshine” was equated with the nickname of the state, but also the concept of government transparency – the dark exits of confidentiality. The Sunshine Act also played on a famous quote from the former court judge Louis Brandeis that “Sunlight should be the best disinfectant; Electric light the most efficient policeman. “

Something unique happened in Florida at the time. Transparency seized.

Journalists like Pete Weitzel from Miami Herald urged the governments to work more transparently and build dynamics through the Florida Society of New Paper Editors. With 11,000 US dollars, she and other media groups contributed to the Stellida Freedom of Information Clearinghouse in 1977 at the University of Florida. The Journalism College commissioned a professor and student who monitored public records, conclusion of public records, closing the session and legal proceedings and drawn attention to newspaper editors to the laws of confidentiality. These efforts created a culture of transparency, including the chosen managers.

In the early nineties, journalists successfully urged themselves to amend a constitution that required transparency throughout the state, and asked for two thirds of state legislation to adopt exceptions to the law.

Several provisions of the law on public records in Florida stood up:

• The lawyer's fee is mandatory. If a citizen is refused information, lawsuits and priors from the government, the agency must pay for the person's attorney fees. Our research shows that this is one of the most important elements in public files to promote compliance with compliance.

• The definition of a public recording is wide and also applies to documents created by a private person or a contractor who act on behalf of the government. The application of the law to private actors is unique in the United States and even in the world.

• Leading bodies have strict requirements to consider in public. Only two civil servants who communicate with each other issue an official meeting and have to be announced in advance to enable public visitor numbers. Most states require a quorum or the majority of the management body, which is to be regarded as an official meeting.

The non -profit Florida First Amendment Foundation was launched in 1985 to promote the transparency of the government, and in 1995 provided its first paid employee, Barbara Petersen, to monitor the confidentiality laws, the training of public employees and the support of people who try to obtain information. The organization has teamed up at the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors to create the sunshine on Sunday every March to know the right. This event went as Sunshine Week National in 2005.

All of these factors led Florida to become known as the nation's most transparent state.

Increasing clouds

Fast lead until 2025, and we see a completely different climate in Florida.

The decline in the newspapers led to fewer reporters pressing on records, fewer editors for transparency and fewer owners who sue government agencies.

Copy fees in connection with public records create obstacles to average citizens. Studies show that the provision of exemption from fee would increase the accessibility without significant costs.

Over the years, legislators have been encouraged to adopt more exceptions to the Sunshine Act of Florida – more than 1,100 and grow. Some of these exceptions focused on the protection of privacy -for example in response to journalists who requested the autopsy file of the Nascar driver Dale Earnhardt after his death from 2001.

The fear of terrorists after September 11 led to a flood of exceptions, such as:

Companies that benefit from public records triggered another counter reaction. For example, some companies have acquired public search photos, published them online and allowed people to remove them at a price. Some lawyers have mentioned the fee deletion regulations and submitted public records that would be difficult to fulfill, sued them immediately and then were determined with agencies for thousands of dollars.

The elected guides turned against transparency, Petersen, who is now heading the Florida Center for Government Accountability, told me recently. One of the outstanding examples that she points out is the refusal of governor Ron Desantis, disclosed his records for travel expenses.

I hear it every week – calls from journalists and others that have been remedied by state and local government agencies. They often quote high copies for public records, exceptions and direct ghosting by agencies. A reporter met Miami City Commissioners who were sworn in a private ceremony. Another challenged the Tallahasee police, which refused to provide information about a shootout affected by civil servants. A student for journalism in college was informed that she had to pay 1,665 US dollars for records about Florida dams that could fail and the government ask “to free the dam records”.

One of my studies from 2019 showed that on average you would receive a public recording in Florida in Florida in about 39% of cases. The state was 31st in the nation, the lower half.

Recent data from the non -profit muckrock report from Florida's percentage decline in the percentage decline from February 2025 to 35%.

Bobby Block, the current director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, wrote in February: “There was a time when Florida set the gold standard for the open government. … these days are over. “

Not just Florida

Florida reflects a national trend: crawl on the country and culminate in transparent twends in large and small cities.

The United States lose their reputation as a guide in the open, responsible government. The law on the freedom of information of the federal government, which is often known as a FOIA, proves the strength of 140 nations in strength and falls continuously because new countries adopt better laws. An information commissioner from Africa told me a few months ago that he and his colleagues laughed about the weak Foia law of the United States and called it “toothless poodle”.

If you ask about a public record in America 10 years ago after our investigation, you would get it about half the time. Now it is about a third of the time and only 12% at the federal level.

Even the statistics of the US Ministry of Justice show a similar decline in the full publication of the records, and the average response time has almost doubled in the same period of 21 to 40 days.

What happens when compliance reaches 0%?

Apart from the effects on democracy itself, every American will feel the pain in his pocket books and everyday life.

Studies show that laws with public records for clean drinking water, safer restaurants, better informed school selection, less corruption, saved taxpayers and a lower chance that sex offender loads again.

According to the Stanford economist James Hamilton, the company benefits for every dollar for every dollar that was spent on public records for journalism, $ 287 in saved life and more efficient government.

Some transparency representatives triggered the alarm for measures by the new Trump administration, such as the removal of agency websites, the discharge of Foia employees and the disassembly of the Open Government Federal Advisory Committee.

It is likely that these efforts crawl and make it possible to run to the state and local level. However, it is important to note that falling transparency is a long -term trend that exceeds a president or a political party. The Federal Government reached its absolutely low adherence with FOIA last year as part of the bidges.

It is easy to put a politician on your fingers, but maybe a wiser to look at the entire system, of which many scholars say that they are broken and should be presented again.

The German sociologist Max Weber found that secrecy is the natural tendency towards bureaucracy if they do not remain controlled. For decades, news companies, especially in Florida, have pushed back against this confidentiality through public pressure and legal disputes.

What or who will replace it if this opposing force has been weakened when not disappearing, or who will replace it?

Non -profit groups have filled part of the gap, and independent online messages grow and enforce the laws for public recording.

But will it be enough? Ultimately, it is up to the citizens. If people do not appreciate and demand the transparent government, the politicians will certainly not become, whether in Florida or in the rest of the country.

David Cuillier is the director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida.