2Day in #OpenGov 2/7/2012

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Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post.

Here is Tuesday’s take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events.

News Roundup:

Campaign Finance
  • More than a third of advertising related to the presidential race has come from nonprofit groups that can keep their donors secret. (Washington Post)
  • Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA), the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, regularly raises money from the defense industry. This year the industry found another member of his family to court, donating more than $19,000 to his wife Patricia, who is running for a seat in the California Legislature. (Republic Report)
  • Former Senator Russ Feingold (D-Minn) a longtime advocate of campaign finance reform, came out strongly against President Obama’s decision to promote the super PAC supporting him. (Politico)

Government

  • The Department of Energy recently launched a new web portal. They have run into some problems with data access and are still migrating some of their information. Additionally, the DOE has large amounts of information that they do not release to the public. (POGO)
  • Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra covered a wide range of topics, including SOPA and open government, in his first major interview since announcing that he will step down. Wednesday is his last day as CTO. (The Atlantic)
International
  • Russia is in the process of becoming a full party to the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. Bribery has been a problem in Russia for some time. (Transparency International)

Relevant committee hearings scheduled for 2/7:

House:

  • Budget Hearing- Library of Congress, U.S. Government Accountability Office, U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Budget Office.  9:30 am. HT-2 Capitol. Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Appropriations.
  • Solutions needed: Improper Payments Total $115 Billion in Federal Misspending. 2318 RHOB. Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency, and Financial Management.
Senate:
  • Accessible Technology’s Role in Educating the Disabled. Tues. 2/7. G-50 DSOB. 2:30 pm. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Relevant bills introduced:

  • None.
Transparency events scheduled for 2/7:

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