An Illinois lawmaker has put forth a bill, SB 1357, called “FOIA-ABUSE BY OFFICIAL” that is currently in committee. Michael Hastings, the sponsoring legislator, declined to comment on what prompted him to propose the bill that targets local officials misusing FOIA.

“An elected official of a unit of local government shall not use an alias, false identity, or any other deceptive means to submit a request for public records under this Act if the intent of the request is to cause the unit of local government to incur unreasonable or excessive costs,” the bill reads.

Under the bill, these officials in disguise would face a misdemeanor and potentially have to reimburse the FOIA office for costs. The bill is particularly focused on requests that incur “unreasonable or excessive costs,” such as over $100,000.

Matthew Marshall, the communications staffer for Hastings, said that “unfortunately at this time the senator is not providing a comment on SB 1357.” His co-sponsor, Paul Faraci, did not respond to a request for comment. There hasn’t been any action on the bill since Faraci was added as co-sponsor in January.

Posted: April 9, 2026
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Secrecy Tracker