Virginia Will Help Amazon Fight FOIA Requests as Part of New HQ Deal

As part of its deal with Amazon, which has based one of its new headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, the state will give Amazon two days notice of any Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed against it “to allow the Company to seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy.”

According to the Washington Examiner, “The Commonwealth agreed to give Amazon a two-day notice prior to the release of any materials submitted as part of the agreement between the two parties under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to allow the tech giant to ‘seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy.'”

“The government will also work with Amazon on record requests to redact portions of the materials to ‘the maximum extent permitted by applicable law,'” the Washington Examiner continued, adding that helicopter access was also part of the deal, so Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos can fly into the headquarters.

Amazon, which decided to split its new headquarters between New York City and Arlington, Virginia, this week, had previously spent over a year teasing smaller cities and counties, who scrambled to offer Amazon incentives in return for the company’s headquarters being built in the area.

As part of the deal, Amazon is also receiving $573 million from Virginia, and $1.5 billion from New York City.

“This is a big win for Virginia – I’m proud Amazon recognizes the tremendous assets the Commonwealth has to offer and plans to deepen its roots here,” declared Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in a statement. “Virginia put together a proposal for Amazon that we believe represents a new model of economic development for the 21st century, and I’m excited to say that our innovative approach was successful. The majority of Virginia’s partnership proposal consists of investments in our education and transportation infrastructure that will bolster the features that make Virginia so attractive: a strong and talented workforce, a stable and competitive business climate, and a world-class higher education system.”