Whew!  It has been a busy week but don't worry Local Sunlight fans I haven't forgot who I am thankful for. 

Pennsylvania’s Above Average Jane, Oregon’s Tom Cusak,  South Carolina’s SC6 and Rhode Island's Twelfth!

I have highlighted Above Average Jane a few times.  I like her summaries of what is going on in the Pennsylvania State House and how she has looked into FEC data.  This week she had a post highlighting an email about PA health centers that are getting stimulus funds.  I think this is a great way to share information for a busy blogger.  Sometimes all you need to do is repost because sometimes information shouldn't stay in the inbox.

Tom Cusak goes above and beyond the call when it comes to blogging about Oregon.  He has three blogs and I have highlighted them all:  Oregon Earmarks Blog, Oregon Housing Blog, and Open Government News and Issues, Oregon.  Tom’s perspective is interesting to me because he used to work for Department of Housing and Urban Development.  It is interesting to see what a former bureaucrat cares about post retirement.  He has done his own research into earmarks and spending as well as discuss open government issues in the state of Oregon.  He is a great asset to Oregon's blogosphere.

South Carolina's SC6 is written by Mike Reino and is a great blog to read for a wide variety of political information; local and federal.  He did a fascinating investigation into campaign donors.  One of my favorite posts of his,  is this post on a seemingly frivolous bill that was considered in the House.  I really enjoy posts about people looking at bills being introduced and finding interesting things or ridiculous legislation.

Rhode Island’s Twelfth is a great hyper  local blog by a woman named Eileen Spillane.  Dedicated to all things in Rhode Island Senate's 12th district she covers a wide variety of subjects.  I like when she covers local transparency issues like open records issues and local Web site reviews.  It is always nice to read hyper local blogs because it becomes less about pure politics but about people and how politics effects communities.

Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. I use this series to highlight local blogs that do a great job of covering local, state, and congressional political news. This week I have highlights from Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Nevada, Alaska and Connecticut. In Pennsylvania, Keystone Politics highlights Gov. Rendell’s directive which allows agencies to charge for open records requests and redacting information.  Even the state’s open record chief doesn’t agree.  This directive soul purpose looks to dissuade people from filing open records requests.

In South Carolina, FitnessNews.com writes about the chaotic scene surrounding legislation for more transparency in state government.  Apparently the Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell's transparency legislation isn't optimal according to critics.  So his response is to change rules that doesn't allow debate.  This is an interesting take on transparency.

West Texas Times writes about Abilene City Hall raising rate of open records requests to dissuade people from applying. The West Texas Times was quoted $93 for 25 pages from the city.  Seems a little extravagent.

Budget Watch Nevada has a thought provoking write up about politics and corruption.

Progressive Alaska talks about this years Muckrakers ball.  An award ceremoney for exception muckrakers.  Excellent Idea. Connecticut Commentry talks about anonymous votes that raise salaries for government employees.  How can you be accountable with taxpayer money if you don't even openly vote on allocating it? Oh you can't.