Governor Scott Walker Announces Sunshine Week Initiatives

Press Release

Today, Governor Walker issued Executive Order #189 to promote open and transparent government through the implementation of best practices and performance dashboards. Executive Order #189 was issued as a part of Sunshine Week.

"We go above and beyond what is required by the law when it comes to public records requests to make sure we are being as open and transparent as possible for our citizens," Governor Walker said. "Today, we are thrilled to highlight some of the great initiatives we have put in place to ensure public access to government across all state agencies. We continue to look for ways to better serve the people of Wisconsin. By implementing these new initiatives, our citizens will have access to government services and processes far beyond what any previous administration has offered.

The Executive Order issued today directs all state agencies to implement standardized best practices in the processing of public records requests, as well as new Agency Performance Dashboards to enable citizens to track state agencies' performance in their key program areas. This will focus on implementing standard response times for small, straightforward requests; requiring more up-front clarity as to the costs of requests; and requiring public records training for all state employees.

Since Governor Walker took office, his office has:

Released more than 6,090,000 pages of records by Governor Walker's office.
Received 841 public records requests, compared to only 360 public records requests received by Governor Doyle's office at the same point in his term.

With a records request increase of 230 percent over the previous administration and over six million pages of records released, Governor Walker's office leads the way on transparent and open government. These new initiatives encourage state government to go above and beyond the requirements of the Public Records Law to promote easier, faster, and clearer access to public records.

A copy of Executive Order #189 is attached. Governor Walker also proclaimed March 13th -- 19th as Sunshine Week in Wisconsin. A copy of Governor Walker's Sunshine Week proclamation is attached.

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