Today Rep. Mike Quigley introduced the Transparency in Government Act, sweeping legislation that addresses issues ranging from making Members’ reports of their personal financial information more detailed, to making lobbyists' reports more timely, to making the work of federal contractors more transparent. (We’ll link to it here as soon as it’s available online.) Sunlight applauds Rep. Quigley for taking on the challenge of shining more light on the work of Congress and the executive branch, as well on the outside forces that influence government decisions.

Rep. Quigley’s decision to create an overarching transparency bill was spurred in part because he came across Sunlight’s model transparency legislation on PublicMarkup.org.  To refresh your memory, back in 2008, Sunlight put together a comprehensive package of government transparency legislation and asked you to “mark it up,” in other words, give us your thoughts, online, on ways to improve the bill. We received hundreds of thoughtful and substantive comments, and incorporated many of them into a second version the bill. It is the bill that you helped draft that became the framework for the legislation introduced in the House of Representatives today.

Much of Congressman Quigley’s bill will look familiar to anyone who contributed to Sunlight’s bill on PublicMarkup, and, as is his prerogative, some of it will have changed. We will go through the bill in the coming days and let you know what we like, what could be improved, and what new transparency ideas warrant further exploration.

By introducing the Transparency in Government Act, Rep. Quigley has advanced the cause of transparency and accountability in government.  And, by using PublicMarkup to inform his bill, Rep. Quigley has demonstrated that good ideas, reasoned voices and modern technology can be used in concert to shape what happens on Capitol Hill.

Update: THOMAS now has the bill, H.R. 4983.  The text will be up as soon as THOMAS processes it.  For a summary, see Rep. Quigley's announcement.

As the Senate moves forward today with the newest version of the bailout bill (now being referred to as the "rescue plan"), Sunlight has been feverishly parsing the text of the new proposal, as provided by the Senate Banking Committee.

We have finished the first part of the bill, Division A, which is now posted for review and commentary on PublicMarkup.org.

If Congress released the data behind the bills they consider, in real time, at the same time as bills are released, then public review and processing would be much MUCH easier. (Details on what that would take are available in this chapter of the Open House Project report.)

An Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch, a mental health parity bill, a package of tax break extensions, and tax breaks and relief for victims of natural disasters, specifically Hurricane Ike. These don't sound like they have any relation to the relief of an financial crisis, but, as of today, they will all play a major role. The new massive bailout package — sorry, "rescue" package — introduced in the Senate includes all of these measures. The inclusion of these measures could help push the underlying Emergency Economic Stabilization Act through Congress or torpedo it by injecting inter-chamber politics into an already tense political situation.

At the heart of the tacked-on legislation is a combination of an AMT patch and tax break extensions for corporations and renewable energy investments. Senate Democrats, most prominently Sen. Max Baucus, believe that the inclusion of these measures will help draw the support of House Republicans who previously voted down Monday's bailout bill. However, this measure is already drawing the ire of House Democrats, including Blue Dogs and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

The AMT/tax break extension package was previously passed by the Senate, but House leaders, pushed by Hoyer and the Blue Dogs, intended on shelving the proposal due to its failure to abide by pay-as-you-go rules (providing offsetting cuts to go with revenue reductions). The inclusion of the package in the bailout bill will revive the animus between the two Democratic factions. Hoyer has already stated that the inclusion of the "tax extenders" is "controversial" and was included only because "they thought that’s the only way they could get it passed.” Of course, the Blue Dogs, being prominent supporters of the bailout bill, may find themselves in a situation where this compromise is the best they can get.

Seeing as how every vote counts at this point — the bailout only needs 12 votes to pass in the House — the inclusion of the mental health parity legislation previously passed by the House could help sway one or two votes. The chief Republican cosponsor of the bill, Rep. Jim Ramstad, voted against the bailout bill on Monday. Also, one the bill's seven cosponsors, Rep. Pete Stark, also voted against the bailout. The inclusion of the defining bill of Ramstad's career, as he retires this year, could be enough to sway this one vote into the "yes" column.

In classic congressional fashion, the Senate has decided to use a crisis piece of legislation as a way to push through a massive package of other priorities forcing an inter-chamber factional battle to come to a head. The inclusion of this controversial legislation could also serve as a remedy to the current failure in the House.

Poison pill or appeasing antidote? We'll wait and see.

It looks like the Senate is moving forward today with a new bailout bill, which is available through the Senate Banking committee site.

A mirrored copy, and an embeddable version are both available below.

We're working on parsing the legislation to get it up on PublicMarkup.org, but until Congress starts publishing bills in XML, parsing it is time consuming. Updates shortly. Update 12:15 PM: Here's the embedded version:

Get your own - Open publication

Update, 12:21 PM: Here's a mirrored version of the PDF.

Update 1:05 PM: Also, for additional info, see the one page and section-by-section analysis posted to the Senate Banking Committee site here.

Update 1:52 PM: For the plan for Senate floor consideration, see the Senate Calendar here.

The unexpected failure of the bailout proposal has given lawmakers and citizens a second chance to understand the details of this sweeping legislation.

You can join the Sunlight Foundation in renewing our call for all legislation to have at least 72 hours online before a vote. Without this minimal public exposure, how can lawmakers and their staff really understand legislation? What hope do citizens have of being truly represented if they can only read bills shortly before passage (or failure, as the case may be)?

We have refined our petition in light of this new opportunity for mindful consideration of the bailout legislation. To sign up, tweet to your friends, or read more details, check out our petition, or read our press release.

Congress responds to public pressure, and posting bills before votes is just common sense. Tell Congress to Read the Bill First! Sign our petition, and check out the latest versions of the bill at PublicMarkup.org.

Today, the Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to exercise restraint, and give Members and the public sufficient time to read and respond to the proposed bailout legislation.

Citizens, irrespective of party identity, are deeply skeptical at the proposal.  If any legislation should be considered publicly, and carefully, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 should be considered with level heads and in full public view.

We're happy to see Congress recognizing the public's interest in this legislation, posting the text of the agreement as soon as a consensus plan was developed among congressional leadership.  Congress should take the next logical step, and hold off on floor consideration until a full 72 hours has elapsed after posting the bill.

As our just issued press release says:

But, before the bailout proposal is considered by lawmakers, it must undergo an even more important test: evaluation and assessment by Americans. That's why we are calling on citizens to sign a petition to urge Congress to wait 72 hours between when the bill was first posted online and the actual vote. We believe all legislation should posted online for at least three days before a vote to give lawmakers and citizens sufficient time to review and debate it, and this bill is no exception. This isn't a bill to rename a few courthouses; this bill is Congress's biggest intervention in the economy in decades. This important legislation deserves more time for public scrutiny.

Sign the petition here, and tell Congress to read the bill first!

Congress took a real step today toward legislative transparency, proactively posting the proposed bailout legislation in public, online, in advance of floorconsideration.

To give citizens a chance to fully digest and comment on the proposed legislation, we've posted the text of the legislation to PublicMarkup.org for public review.

On Friday Ellen blogged a request for legislative transparency, calling on Congress to release the bailout draft as early as possible:

The Sunlight Foundation is calling on Congress to publish the proposed bailout legislation as soon as possible, to give constituents and lawmakers themselves as much time as possible to examine the specifics of the proposal before it’s voted on.  We will post the draft legislation to PublicMarkup.org as soon as possible, to give citizens a chance to weigh in on the proposal’s specifics. Any lack of transparency in consideration of this legislation would be especially ironic since lawmakers have blamed the current crisis on financial malfeasance that was hidden from public view. Before the bailout proposal is considered by lawmakers, it must undergo an even more important test: evaluation and assessment by the public.

Today, Congress responded, and Speaker Pelosi and the House Financial Services Committee posted the bill they've designated as the final version.

From remarks Speaker Pelosi delivered at a press conference today:

Before I yield to Senator Reid, I just want to tell everyone that I am now informed that at this moment, you can find the plan on financialservices.house.gov, and then if not there, on speaker.gov. It's there for all Americans to see, for our Members to read so they can make the important decision they have to make tomorrow in the House. I also want to say that later when this bill passes and is implemented, all of the transactions related to this legislation will be on the Internet within 48 hours and that represents change. That transparency, that oversight, will be very important to the health of our economy.

In the midst of rare political urgency, as congressional leaders are pushed well beyond their comfort zones, facing the Bush Administration, unclear political consequences, a skeptical public, and posturing from the presidential candidates, Pelosi chose to assert the role of an empowered public.

Ellen identified two shortfalls in transparency; one real, helping cause the finance situation, and one potential, as Congress responds with legislation.  Speaker Pelosi's statement addresses both.

First, on finance data, Pelosi says "all of the transactions related to this legislation will be on the Internet within 48 hours..."  While I don't know finance well enough to speak to the details of publishing such data, I can say that this is the same sort of transaction tracking transparency that has made FedSpending.org (and USASpending.gov ) immensely successful -- the same transparency that the individual US states are experimenting with (as Grover Norquist recently noted on The Next Right ).

On the second point, Speaker Pelosi points the public to the two sites where the legislation had just been posted.  Now, putting legislation online is nothing new.  THOMAS has been around since the mid 1990s.  Referencing online access to legislation in the midst of intense negotiations, whipping, and public pressure, however, is.

The expectations here, of course, are much higher than with most legislation.  The dollar amounts are enormous, the legislative process has slipped into urgency-mode, and rank-and-file lawmakers are scrambling to establish a position.

Regardless of the incentives facing congressional leadership, and regardless of the substance of the bill, this episode shows one thing very clearly: the bar for public disclosure has been raised.

Ellen, in her post, also points out the distinction between public dialog and "compromises and deal making — the real stuff of urgent policy-making."  If public dialog is going to remain separated, to some degree, from "the real stuff of urgent policy-making," as it is sure to in a legislature controlled by centralized party leaders, then the role of the informed public needs to be clearly staked out, asserted, and defended.

Even if many Americans dislike this legislation, and even if much of the legislation was created in informal pre-legislative meetings, public scrutiny and input has been welcomed into that process.

The legislative process, just like finance regulation, depends on public scrutiny for stability and legitimacy.  It's good to see Congress recognize both.

Congress is moving rapidly to enact a gigantic taxpayer bailout of the financial sector, with a potential cost of $700 billion or more than $2,000 per American citizen. We believe, as Justice Brandeis said, that "Sunlight is the best of disinfectants," and that all legislation ought to be open to public comment and consideration in real-time, not just after the fact.

So, as a public service, Sunlight is posting the proposals that are receiving the most attention by Congress and the Administration - and by you, the people. We invite you to review the bills and share your feedback. Just as you helped us write our model transparency bill you can share your knowledge online and show Congress what you really want to see in this vital legislation.

As we ponder the significance of the Internet this One Web Day, what better way to show how we can use this awesome medium for positive change by ending secret legislation in Washington?