INSTANT FOIA - PUBLIC OWNERSHIP AND INSTANT TRANSPARENCY ACT (POITA)

115th Congress, 2nd Session H.R. ____ / S. ____ To establish instantaneous public access to all non-national-security government records, eliminate private committee deliberations, and affirm citizen ownership of government-created materials.

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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS

(a) Short Title. — This Act may be cited as the “Public Ownership and Instant Transparency Act” or “POITA”. (b) Table of Contents. — [Omitted for brevity]

SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

Congress finds that:

1. All materials created by government employees or contractors using public funds are the property of the citizens of the United States.

2. Current FOIA processes impose unjustifiable delays and costs on citizens seeking their own property.

3. Private committee meetings and non-public deliberations shield waste, fraud, and abuse from timely public scrutiny.

Purpose: To create a real-time, AI-driven public archive of every government record (except classified national security matters) and to eliminate non-public government meetings.

SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS

1. Covered Entity — Any federal, state, or local government agency, office, commission, legislature, court, or public corporation.

2. Government Record — Any document, email, text, audio, video, metadata, or data created, received, or maintained by a covered entity in the course of official duties.

3. National Security Exception — Information classified under Executive Order 13526 or successor orders, or protected by court-ordered seal in ongoing criminal investigations.

4. Instant — Within 30 seconds of creation or receipt.

SECTION 4. CITIZEN OWNERSHIP OF GOVERNMENT RECORDS

(a) Title. All government records are property of the citizens and held in trust by government entities. (b) No Copyright. No covered entity may assert copyright over any government record. (c) Licensing. All records are released under CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication) upon creation.

SECTION 5. INSTANT FOIA: THE NATIONAL PUBLIC ARCHIVE (NPA)

(a) Establishment. The Archivist of the United States shall create and maintain the National Public Archive (NPA) — a single, searchable, blockchain-verified database. (b) Mandatory Real-Time Upload.

• Every covered entity must stream all government records to the NPA instantly via secure API.

• AI redaction engines (open-source, auditable) shall automatically redact only:

  1. Classified national security data (per EO 13526).

  2. Court-sealed criminal investigation materials.

  3. Personally identifiable health information (HIPAA-compliant de-identification). (c) Public Access.

• No FOIA request required.

• Full-text search, downloadable in original format, with per-record permanent URLs.

• Live transcription of all meetings (audio/video) within 60 seconds.

SECTION 6. ELIMINATION OF PRIVATE GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

(a) All Meetings Public.

• Zero exceptions for “executive sessions,” “closed-door briefings,” or “informal working groups.”

• Every meeting of 2 or more public officials discussing public business must be livestreamed with:

  • 1080p video, stereo audio, and real-time captioning.

  • Archived in NPA with per-second timestamps. (b) Committees and Subcommittees.

• All legislative committees (federal, state, local) prohibited from non-public deliberation.

• Draft bills, amendments, and vote explanations uploaded 60 seconds after creation.

SECTION 7. PHONE, EMAIL, AND TEXT TRANSPARENCY

(a) Government-Issued Devices Only. Public officials may only use agency-provided devices for official business. (b) Auto-Archiving.

• Emails: SMTP/IMAP hooks push to NPA instantly.

• Phone calls: VoIP systems record and transcribe (redacting only court-ordered wiretap data).

• Texts: SMS/MMS gateway archives with metadata (sender, recipient, timestamp, geolocation).

SECTION 8. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES

(a) Automatic Suspension. Any official who disables recording or delays upload is immediately suspended without pay pending investigation. (b) Criminal Penalties. Willful concealment or destruction of a government record:

• Class D felony (up to 7 years imprisonment). (c) Citizen Standing. Any citizen may file a mandamus action in federal court to compel compliance. Attorney fees automatically awarded to prevailing plaintiffs.

SECTION 9. IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE

Phase

Deadline

Requirement

1

180 days

NPA prototype online; federal agencies connected

2

1 year

All state legislatures and largest 100 municipalities

3

2 years

Every covered entity nationwide

SECTION 10. FUNDING AND FEDERAL PREEMPTION

(a) Federal Grants. $10 billion over 5 years to states/municipalities for compliance (tied to upload compliance). (b) Preemption. Any state or local law permitting closed meetings or delayed disclosure is preempted. (c) Interstate Compact. States must join the POITA Compact within 2 years or lose federal highway funds.

SECTION 11. OVERSIGHT BOARD

(a) Citizen Oversight Board (COB). 15 members:

• 5 appointed by President, 5 by Senate, 5 by House.

• No current or former public officials eligible. (b) Powers.

• Quarterly audits of NPA integrity.

• Power to subpoena any official for live-streamed testimony.

SECTION 12. SEVERABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE

(a) If any provision is held invalid, the remainder stands. (b) Effective 90 days after enactment.

END OF BILL

CONSTITUTIONAL & PRACTICAL NOTES (NOT PART OF BILL)

Issue

Mitigation

1st Amendment (speech chill)

Only official-capacity communications are captured; personal devices banned for official use.

4th Amendment (privacy)

Officials have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public duties (cf. City of Ontario v. Quon).

Article I, §5 (Senate/House rules)

Congress may regulate its own procedures; closed sessions are a rule, not a constitutional mandate.

State sovereignty

Funding leverage + interstate compact mirrors Clean Air Act model.

Cost

~$2–3 billion/year (less than 0.05% of federal budget); offset by fraud detection savings.