Today in #OpenGov 2/11/2014

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Keep reading for today’s look at #OpenGov news, events and analysis including health care lobbying, Mexican education, and a big fine in California.series-opengov-today

National News

  • Lobbying was down slightly in 2013 over 2012, but a ton of money was still flowing through the system. Unsurprisingly, health care was the top sector, with close to $550 million spent on lobbying. (Roll Call)
  • AskThem.io, launched by the Participatory Politics Foundation yesterday, aims to provide a platform for structured question and answers with elected officials across the country. According the the Participatory Politics Foundation’s founder, it is sort of like the White House’s We The People platform, but extended to more than 140,000 elected officials nationwide. (E Pluribus Unum)

International News

  • More than 1.3 million Mexican students were part of an exercise in transparency and accountability late last year. (Transparency International)
  • The city council in Brighton and Hove, in the UK, is the first city to implement a version of mySociety’s WhatDoTheyKnow, a system to simplify FOI requests. (mySociety)

State and Local News

  • Chicago released its first annual “open data report,” this week. The report highlights data that was made available last year and lays out goals for routing publication of agency data moving forward. (Chicago Tribune)
  • The State of Hawaii is launching apps to help citizens find their state senator or representative. They operate thanks to the state’s newly upgraded GIS infrastructure. (Future Gov)
  • The California Fair Political Practices Commission leveled its largest fine ever this week. The $133,000 fine was handed to a top lobbying firm for violated a number of campaign finance laws, particularly one against throwing lavish parties for politicians. (Washington Times/ AP)

Events Today

Events Tomorrow

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