2Day in #OpenGov 2/10/2012

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Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post.

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

News Roundup:

Government

  • Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for possible insider trading violations. (Washington Post)
  • The House Administration Committee and the Library of Congress are trying to make it easier to find live video streams of house committee hearings. They created one centralized site to hold all relevant links. (ICT Parliament)
International
  • A 2006 court case in Chile paved the way for access to public information laws throughout Latin America. Currently, 14 of the region’s 19 countries have laws on the books, more than any other developing region in the world. (Open Society Blog)
  • Brazil requested an injunction from Twitter to stop users from tweeting about police roadblocks, radar traps, and drunk-driving checkpoints. It appears to be the first time that a country has taken Twitter up on its plans to allow censorship of tweets that might break local laws. (Yahoo/AP)
State and Local
  • The office of the New York City Comptroller currently provides comprehensive, daily updates on almost every check issued by the city. Now, they revamping their website and preparing to release the source code under an open-source license. (Tech President)
  • The Washington, DC Attorney General ruled that a proposed ballot initiative to ban corporate donations to city candidates is eligible to move forward. Initiative organizers will have to gather 22,000 signatures to gain ballot access. (Washington Post)

Relevant committee hearings scheduled for 2/10:

  • None.

Relevant bills introduced:

  • H.R. 4010. The DISCLOSE Act of 2012. To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, and other entities, and for other purposes.
Transparency events scheduled for 2/10:
  • None.

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