One FOIA request and a whopping pricetag -- $7 million

Freedom’s just another word for another $1 million left to pay.

Maybe that’s what Janis Joplin would sing today, with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s recent complaints about obtaining information through the Freedom of Information Act from the state of  Michigan.

Last week, the center complained that the state had missed legal deadlines in responding to its requests for information about federal homeland security grants, but then went on to describe the state’s pricetag for an earlier much wider request for grant information.

            Center officials said state officials calculated it would cost nearly $7 million to copy 2,045,783 pages – at 36 cents a page – and $6.1 million for “search, examination and deletion” of documents. The center downsized its request to documents that will cost about $14,000 to obtain.

"Michigan residents lose when freedom of information is not all that free.” “Exorbitant fees and missed deadlines undermine the law and create a perception of obstruction,” said Kathy Hoekstra, a spokeswoman for the center. “