2Day in #OpenGov 9/28/2011

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Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post.

Here is Wednesday’s look at the week’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events.

News Roundup:

Super Committee
  • The Super Committee has taken a turn towards the opaque, holding closed door meetings on back-to-back days. Members and staff have been tight lipped on the direction of discussion and the committee has no public meetings scheduled. (Politico) Sunlight Foundation Policy Director John Wonderlich shares his views here.
Campaign Finance
  • Freshman Republicans, most of whom ran on a vehemently anti-establishment platform, are quickly learning the ways of Washington fundraising. House freshman have at least 100 fundraisers scheduled around town over the next two months. (Politico)
  • Opinion: Candidate Super PAC’s should never be considered independent,  are inherently corrupt, and should be shut down according to this opinion piece. (Politico)
Government
  • The House Small Business Committee is harnessing the power of the internet to better carry out their mission. The forum aims to connect the committee with small business owners who can’t travel to Washington to share their views. (Federal Computer Week)
  • The State Department and USAID are working to make their data more useful and usable. They are promoting data visualization projects and trying to draw in new data from the 24 federal agencies that are involved in foreign assistance projects. (nextgov)
Revolving Door
  • Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) senior policy adviser, Shimmy Stein, is leaving the Hill to join Blank Rome Government Relations as a principal. He will focus on tax, trade, financial services, and defense issues. (Roll Call)
State and Local
  • The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has been using audience response technology at meetings and hearings to collect data on citizen priorities. The technology allows participants to provide feedback and vote on issues during meetings and helps the agency quickly analyze the data. (GovTech)
  • Oklahoma’s online Medicaid benefits portal has been a resounding success. Nearly 40% of applicants were using the portal within two months of its launch and it is projected to save the state $22 million over 5 years. (GovTech)

Relevant committee hearings scheduled for 9/28:

  • None.

Relevant bills introduced:

  • None.

Transparency events scheduled for 9/28:

  •  None.

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