Here are Wednesday’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events.

News Roundup:

Lobbying

• A former member of Congress took to the floor of the House to urge current members to vote against Boehner’s debt ceiling increase, which led some to question that violated congressional lobbying rules. (Roll Call)
• Mitt Romney held a fundraiser yesterday which included a number of K-street lobbyists. (Roll Call)
• Representative Pitts has donated the money he received from a lobbyists who allegedly violated laws relating to contributions on behalf of a foreign government. (Politics PA)

Access to Information

• A US District Judge denied a motion to compel the US Department of Interior to release documents responsive to a FOIA request. (Saipan Tribune)
• Opinion: The Washington Post Editorial Board urged members of the House to take up the Faster FOIA law, which unanimously passed the Senate earlier this year. (Washington Post)

Revolving Door

• The ties between oil and gas companies and government works remain tight despite efforts by the Obama Administration. (Yahoo!)

Ethics

• Open Secrets speculated about what will happen to Representative Wu’s campaign cash and lobbyists bundling for presidential candidates. (Open Secrets Blog)

Technology

• The General Services Administration became the first federal agency to transition its emails to a cloud-based system, using Google Apps for Government. (Federal Computer Week)

State and Local

• The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors considered amendments to the county’s campaign finance laws to allow larger individual contributions and contributions from PACs. (LobbyComply Blog)
• A county in Delaware hired a federal lobbyist with ties to the city as county administrator. (Delaware Online)
• City officials in Sioux City, MO were outraged after the US Postal Service said that charges for its FOIA request could run as high as $831,000. (Sioux City Journal)

International

• The Provincial Government in British Columbia unveiled three websites dedicated to releasing government data and making information available to the public. (O’Reilly Radar)
• Opinion: An editorial applauds Vancouver Province for efforts to make data more available for public use and scrutiny. (Vancouver Sun)

Relevant committee hearings scheduled for 7/27:

• None

Relevant bills introduced:

• None

Transparency events scheduled for 7/27:

• None