• In Rhode Island, a public records law might get a much-needed revamp if a bill heard by the House Judiciary Committee this week becomes law. The proposal was introduced by Representative Michael Marcello and would be the first amendment to the state’s Public Records Act in 15 years. According to RI Future, the legislation would, “decrease the amount of time a public agency has to make public records available from ten to 7 days; require municipalities and government agencies to designate and train a public records officer; require police departments to make initial arrest reports available within 24 hours; and would make correspondences between elected officials regarding policy public documents.” Citizens in Rhode Island have had a difficult time of accessing public information in the past. Civil liberties and open government activists applauded the effort, hoping it would improve the state’s access to public records. “This may impose some additional burdens on government employees but it should be accepted as an important part of their work,” said Steve Brown, the executive director of the RI ACLU. For more information, see Bob Plain’s post.
• Members of the meet up group Open Government Chicago demoed some of the newest web-based applications created by local programmers. These apps utilize public data and could be helpful to Austin citizens. Some of the most interesting aps included Chicago Potholes, an app that “displays the open pothole requests on a city map” and MetroChicagoData.org, a  federated data site that makes it easy to “obtain datasets on one website instead of going to each level of government for the various sets of information.” For more of these exciting open government apps, see Ellyn Fortino’s post on Austin Talks.
• In a March 27, 2012 letter, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini, Jr. criticized the Trenton City Council  for failing to  make "available to the public written minutes of [Council] meetings for a substantial period of time." He maintained that meeting minutes should be made “promptly available'” to the public and  pointed out that a 1986 court decision defined "promptly available" as meaning within two weeks after the meeting. He asked that the council provide him  "with a timetable when minutes from past meetings will be complete and available to the public." John Paff of NJ Open Government Notes maintains, “ It's not often that a county prosecutor enforces the Open Public Meetings Act.  Bocchini's letter is refreshing and may help convince other prosecutors around New Jersey to take action on complaints about tardy disclosure of meeting minutes. “ For more on his take, see his post.
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's aides are “clearly unhappy” with a poll that included what they say is a leading question on transparency. The question read, “Governor Andrew Cuomo and the leaders of the Senate Republican and Assembly Democratic majorities are being criticized for secrecy in negotiating major policy deals, then quickly voting at night on the measures. Do you think these closed-door negotiations were necessary to achieve major policy deals or not?” Subsequently, the governor had to  answer questions clarifying  his own definition of transparency,  which is mostly focused on traveling the state to explain his budget and agenda directly to voters. For the whole story see Nick Reisman’s post on Capital Tonight.

• While summarizing the changes Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst hopes to implement with the Senate Select Committee on Open Government, Curt Olsen reminds, “Initiatives for 'open government' either improve access or hinder it." Olsen maintains that each change should be watched carefully, as, “ State lawmakers can pass laws that enhance openness and transparency or they can pass laws that cause mischief and erect a new hurdle for taxpayers to have access to government." The proposed changes include: “The use of new technologies and future technological advances as relates to the creation of public information” and “Study ways to define and address frivolous and/or overly-burdensome open records requests. “State lawmakers can pass laws that enhance openness and transparency or they can pass laws that cause mischief and erect a new hurdle for taxpayers to have access to government.” For the entire list and Olsen’s opinion, check out his post on Texas Budget Source.
• In her assessment of the state of Minnesota transparency, Mary Tracey maintains, “What matters to most citizens is the right to access to information by and about state, regional and local government information – state agencies, county boards, advisory committees and regulators, every entity from the Governor’s office to the local school board. In her post on Poking Around With Mary, she summarizes the open government portals available to Minnesotans: The twin pillars of access in Minnesota are the Data Practices Act and the Open Meeting Law.  Essential guides to each include these:  Open Meeting Law,Government Data Practices Act.  The Legislative Reference Libraryalso offers a comprehensive list of guides and information about parallel laws and regulations in other states." She urges citizens who are concerned with government transparency to “be aware of the agencies’ responsibilities to assure compliance with the spirit and the letter of the law.”

• Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed an executive order today intended to simplify the process for citizens looking to access government documents through the Freedom of Information Act. The state has been criticized in the past for “complex” and “inconsistent” policies related to requesting government documents in FOIA requests. According to blogger Jennifer Hayes, “The executive order will require all executive branch agencies to adopt a standard policy  for requests in order to streamline the process and make it less costly to the requester.” Markell hopes this will increase the government’s transparency and openness. He maintains, “We knew we had to do better,” Markell said. “Access is vital to the healthy functioning of a democracy.” For Hayes' take, read her post on SussexCountian. 

• Minnesota's Farmington School Board members are changing the way they respond electronically to constituents to avoid potentially violating open meeting laws. Transparency concerns occurred after email conversations with constituents were sent by “reply all” to other board members. This could put board members in violation of open meeting laws. Although email isn’t specifically addressed in the law, issues occur regarding proper responses. School Board Chair Tera Lee said emails could be misinterpreted by other board members as an attempt to sway a vote even if that’s not the way it was intended by the writer."That’s the problem with email too, is that it’s such a grey area,” she said. For the entire story, read Laura Adelmann's post on This Week Live. 

In this third segment on unveiling opengovernment.org and how you can use it to track legislative issues, we are going to talk more about issue areas. What are the most prevalent issues  in your state? Do you know the bills about these issues? I took a look at issues in Texas, which range from Campaign Finance and Election (with 425 bills introduced), to guns (with 58 bills proposed).

In summary, the ‘Issues’ section highlights bill subjects attached to legislation and makes them easier to understand and access by using legislative data from Open States Project. Plowing further into the Texas Campaign Finance and Elections issues, we chose HR 197 as a random bill to follow. A quick look at the bill shows that it focuses on suspending limitations on conference committee jurisdiction and was sponsored by Rep. Jim Pitts.  To recap, as OpenGovernment.org primarily lets you track state legislature that is important to you, each time you navigate to a bill, you will see a roundup of the latest action taken on the bill including any news and blog coverage and any twitter mentions.

An interesting thought to explore is whether the total number of bills proposed (or passed) about certain issues is indicative of how legislators in a particular state feel about those issues. But what every concerned citizen should pay attention to is the trends in the types of bills being introduced in their state. Yes, the legislators craft the language, but you can provide your input in how you want to be governed -- by contacting your representative and making sure that they are representing your best interests and asking them to sponsor legislation on issues that you care about.

And if you want to critically analyze the ratio of bills introduced to those that are actually passed, you can use an example of the ‘Crime issues’ in Texas. There are 1086 bills. You can get a sense of how may have been signed by the governor just by browsing through. And if you’re a blogger seeking to connect with your communities on legislative issues in your area, Opengovernment.org provides background information on issues in the bills you are tracking while sharing an informative perspective on your state legislature, with your audience.

Have you had a chance to play around with Opengovernment.org? Share your impressions in the comments section.

Next week, we will highlight campaign contributions and how special interests play a role in state legislation.

• The Austin Independent School District agreed to release a report that deals with the closing, repurposing, and consolidation of nine schools in Central Texas. The district was supposed to release the report to The Austin American Stateman several days prior to a school board meeting scheduled for Monday. However,   district officials later said they would only release the document if the newspaper’s editors and reporters were willing to wait until 10 PM Monday night, several hours after the meeting would have taken place. The school district claims that the report was actually a “working draft,” which exempts it from the state’s open records law. Curt Olsen remains unconvinced, maintaining, “transparency with conditions is not transparency." Read more of his take at the Texas Budget Source.

• The Attorney General of Massachusetts has just released a new website to ensure all meetings are in accordance with the Open Meetings Law. Members of the public, press, municipal officials, and public bodies may access its determinations by searching for key terms or phrases or by actions ordered. According to Jefferey Roy, “The Open Meeting Law supports the principle that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action. It requires that most meetings of governmental bodies to be held in public.” Find out more at the Franklin School Committee Blog.

• According to Max Brantley, Little Rock’s city hall is violating transparency laws. Two days after Brantly filed an FOI for accumulated city data on ward redistricting, none have been provided. The custodian of the documents has not replied, as law requires, to his FOI request. City manager Bruce Moore claims they have published the only document pertaining to redistricting, however,  Brantly disagrees. He asks readers, “Do you trust them to be any more forthcoming about decisions on spending their new half-billion dollars?” Read more at the Arkansas Blog.

• Former city council candidate and California attorney Mauren Sundstrom  filed a complaint with the San Bernardino County District Attorney alleging that Upland City Council committed two open meeting law violations. She alleges that these meetings violated the Brown Act, which allows the public the opportunity participate in meetings of local government agencies. Sundstrom maintains that she wants city council to realize they may not be as open as they think they are. Read Sandra Emerson’s  post on Inland Politics to find out more.

The new year kicked off with some major changes in some states. For some, the initial steps of introducing new regulations may be off to a good start, but they still pose some daunting challenges. While for others, striking the balance between a totalitarian government and being answerable to their residents could create some transparency compromises. This round-up brings you the latest efforts to promote and sustain transparency by citizens and governments alike.

• Rick Scott may have won governor of Florida but the state’s residents still want him to evaluate his environmental protection regulatory reform plans. In an open letter to the Gov-elect, Jamie Davis states that eliminating unnecessary additive state regulation to duplicative federal regulation as Scott proposes, robs Floridians of their rights. See how he urges Scott not to “surrender to EPA over-reach” on the Tenth Amendment Center.

• A new law requiring caps on donations from Political Action Committees and political parties has been introduced in Illinois. Under the law, Individuals will donate a maximum of $5,000 per candidate per election cycle and political action committees will have a cap of $10,000. But as Andrew Thomason writes, though an attempt at curbing corruption in the struggling state, the law will now have candidates working twice as hard to ensure that donations are filed promptly. See details on the Boone County Watchdog.

• Former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson questions Iowa governor Terry Branstad’s version of transparency. While urging Iowans to “follow the money” in his Press-Citizen op-ed, Johnson stresses that not having access to government data breeds corruption. As a remedy, in his “governor Branstad’s transparency” blog post, he suggests making available reports that link appropriations with legislators who voted for them. See more of his recommendations on FromDC2Iowa.

• A newly launched website in Arizona may take the state from one of the least transparent to being among the top 10 in the nation. Openbooks.az provides fiscal information on policymakers, legislators, and taxpayers but  Byron Schlomach feels that it could use some tweaking. Check out Schlomach’s advocacy for transparency with the Goldwater Institute and his long call for monitoring government spending on the State Brief Blog.

• An interim report released by a jury investigating corruption in Florida has recommended that candidates running for public office should get election and campaign finance law training. It also calls for the elimination of a 3-pack advertising involving a political party advertising for more than one candidate without  it being considered a political contribution. Could the ten-months investigation ordered by former governor Charlie Crist  have offered more recommendations?  Find out more  on  Lobby Comply Blog.

We have reached the middle of the month, which means there  isn’t many days left in my 24 Days of Local Sunlight!  So let me get a thankin!

My thanks goes out to Annapolis Politics, Fighting 29th, South Texas Chisme and Triad Watch.

Annapolis Politics written by Brian Gill covers about Annapolis and surrounding areas.  Whether it's live blogging city council meetings or offering budget solutions Annapolis Politics is a great place to find information about the local government. I really liked his work highlighting shady elected official business and one of my favorites posts explaining campaign finance information.

Fighting 29th is a blog that focuses on the activities of its representative Eric Massa.  Written by Rottenchester who also maintains Congressdb, which you can use to compare congressional votes.  One of my favorite posts is the one that Rep. Massa voting against Time Warner even though they are one of his major donors.   Another great series of posts was about the previous occupier of district 29th's seat, former Rep. Kuhl and they were highlighting how difficult it was to find out how much congressional travel to other countries costs.  This blog is a great example of how to really follow your member of Congress.

South Texas Chisme is "a collection south Texas political gossip".  I like reading it because you can find a wide variety of different information not the least of which transparency related.  I have highlighted posts about personal financial disclosures and campaign finance reports.  It is very neat to be able to stop at one blog and see what is going on in a whole region.  I hope people see my local sunlight's that way too.  A snapshot of transparency in the local level.

Triad Watch is keeping an eye out on North Carolina, by doing research and keeping an eye out on what is going on on the local level.  Like this post about  local developers giving free rides to local elected officials to Washington, DC or posting the City of Greensboro's disbursements online to see what government money is working locally.

Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. This week I have highlights from Pennsylvania, Texas, Hawaii and New York.

In Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Foundation has a post about the need for more transparency in the state contractor awarding system. The Department of General Services has been reprimanded for their lack of competitive bidding for state contracts.  Also quite problematic is that they don't have any information on changes to contracts so taxpayers don't have a good idea on how much they are spending.  The end of the post they ask for a state spending database, I'll go a step forward and say they need a state database that is also updated in REAL TIME, so these change to contracts aren't hidden through a slow update schedule.

Texas Watchdog has a post about one of the candidates for mayor of Houston, who made her's and her partner's personal tax returns public voluntarily to Texas Watchdog.  Her opponent has not responded to requests.  The tax forms are now online for citizens to see.  It is great to see candidates voluntarily submit their financial information to third party watchdogs.  Especially if the city or state don't post that information publicly or don't do it quick enough for citizens to see before they vote.

In Hawaii, Ian Lind has a post about an information request that the Department of Human Resources filled for him.  His version was complete with the information clear and not altered in anyway.  Hawaii has a Docushare system that provides information that was requested, however  the same document Ian requested has been altered to exclude information that he is able to see from his personal request.  There is clearly a problem with how documents go from the private request to the public system.  I hope they figure out a way to go from one to another without changing the document because this doesn't serve the public trust.

In New York, Politics on the Hudson has a post about NYPIRG putting online the handwritten financial disclosure forms from state officials.  Lawmakers are required to file these forms but the law doesn't require them to show how much they make in outside income or any outside dealings.  These forms should be online already it is a little ridiculous that they have to be computerized by a third party.  With the improvements that New York has been making I hope this is on their list to improve.

The state level is a mix and match of some openness and an incredible amount of opacity.  That is why groups like Texas Watchdog are worth their weight in gold.  According to their site they are "a news Web site and training center that scrutinizes the actions of government agencies, bureaucracies and politicians in Texas. It is an independent, nonpartisan entity founded on the belief that our American democracy depends on transparency in government."  They have been doing excellent work bringing Texas into the light and keeping their elected officials accountable.  This is why we welcome Jennifer Peebles to share her experience advocating for transparency in Texas.  - Nisha Thompson

By JENNIFER PEEBLES With 254 counties, 1,200 school districts and a population of about 24 million, the commercials are right: Texas really is like a whole other country.

It's also a country where you have no legal right to know who has applied to be your kid's next school superintendent, where public officials think open meetings laws trample their free speech rights, and where state legislators keep paper records of who is snooping in their ethics forms.

As the deputy editor for Texas Watchdog, a Houston-based nonprofit news site that launched about a year ago, I advocate for government transparency and try to help average folks who are trying to get government information. We request a lot of records for our own investigative reports as well as just to upload to the Web so that journalists, citizen-journalists and just plain citizens can access them more easily. Texans are proud of their public records law and like to say it's one of the best in the nation. Indeed, the mechanism it created -- in which the state attorney general acts as a sort of judge or mediator and determines what's public and what isn't -- has proved to be much better than in Tennessee, where I lived and worked for several years, and where you basically have to sue a government agency that won't cough up a record you want.

Texas Watchdog has had several contested records cases get punted to the attorney general in our first year, and overall, we've won a majority of them, including getting access to most of Houston Mayor Bill White's calendar, employee salary information from the county around Corpus Christi, and most recently, e-mails between Houston's public transit agency and a well-paid consultant in California who was hired without competitive bids.

On the other hand, we've also lost some records battles that we wish we could have won, such as access to financial and other information for a nonprofit agency that was set up by the Houston Airport System so that its employees could build and run airports in Latin America and elsewhere. That one, in particular, bugs me.

But legislators have also written some exemptions into the law that rebuke transparency. Want to know who has applied to be the next superintendent of your school district? You have no right to know that in Texas -- those records are closed until the school board or school trustees settle on one "finalist" for the job who, obviously, is all but hired by then.

Want to know which Texas Highway Patrol troopers failed polygraphs or had criminal charges on their records when they were hired?

Too bad -- all polygraph results and criminal records checks for state troopers are specifically closed under state law. I was stunned when I learned this after I tried to get some records from the state Department of Public Safety earlier this year about troopers with troubled pasts -- I mean, who, other than troubled troopers and the people who hired them, would want to prevent the public from finding out whether a state trooper has a record or lied to his superiors?

This past session of the legislature, which wrapped up this summer, had pluses and minuses for transparency. Lawmakers finally passed a first-ever reporter shield law for Texas, but they also voted to close off criminal background checks on public school teachers -- and they came frighteningly close to closing off dates of birth for public employees. Reminds me of the Molly Ivins joke someone told me on my first week in Houston: "Why doesn't the Texas Legislature meet every year? So they won't do any more damage."

As for government information available online, there are some bright spots. State Comptroller Susan Combs has a "Where the Money Goes" site, that serves as an online state check register (this just in: The Texas State Commission on Fire Protection spent $370.93 on office supplies last fiscal year).

And the Texas Ethics Commission has campaign contribution information online -- pretty important in a state where there are no-state imposed limits on contribution size. Everything's bigger in Texas, I reckon, especially the campaign checks -- though I do wish the state would require that campaigns supply an address each donor. That would make it much easier for the public to find familial and other connections between donors and recipients.

But more could be done. A few years back, legislators wrote laws requiring themselves to file annual ethics forms about their sources of income. But they also required the Ethics Commission to keep a paper record of everyone who asks to see a lawmaker's ethics form -- a subtle, but effective, intimidation tactic. Texas Watchdog countered that by getting the forms for all 181 state legislators and posting them all online on our site.

An effort in the legislature to repeal the identification requirement, and to demand the Ethics Commission post the forms online itself, didn't get very far earlier this year.

Let's hope the tide turns in favor of more transparency in 2011.

Check out more of the Texas Watchdog's great work here.

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 Texas, Michigan, and Maine.

Texas Watchdog reports on a loophole in Texas personal financial disclosure filings.  Spouses of elected officials do not have to be included in disclosure filings.  Considering that spouses could have considerable wealth and influence, this loophole should be eliminated.  Spouses could have investments that are affected by policy and potential conflicts of interest should be made public.

In Michigan, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood highlights an OpenSecrets.org article on donations made to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by the insurance industry. Rep. Mike Rogers is on the committee and is the fourth highest beneficiary of donations .  The post notes that even though Rep. Rogers was elected in 2000 he is prominently placed on the insurance industry's radar.

In Maine, Union Maine posts about Congresswoman Pingee answers some questions they sent to the Maine congressional delegation.  The blog asked her office a few questions about their health care: "What does it cost? How much do they pay? How much do we pay for them? ."   Rep. Pingee is the only office in Maine that responded to Union Maine's questions.  The post goes into more information about congressional health care coverage.  It is a great example of how members of Congress can gain points by answering constituent questions.  It really is that easy.