NEWS ROUNDUP:

Campaign Finance

• Fun Friday – White House to release beer recipe? Multiple efforts are underway to pressure the White House to disclose the recipe to their home brewed beer. A FOIA request submitted by a Reddit user probably won’t go anywhere, but the White House has said they’ll release the recipe if a petition current up on the We the People petition site reaches 25,000 signatures by September 17. (Politico)
• Stations and super PACs sitting in a tree: Television stations are required to provide discounts to candidates running for public office, but have no such obligation when it comes to super PACs. The influx of advertising cash from these groups has created a revenue boon for broadcasters. (Politico)

Government

• We the open source: The White House published the source code behind its We The People petition platform to the open source code sharing site GitHub. In a statement, the White House noted that making the code available fulfilled President Obama’s pledge to share the technology so that other government’s can take advantage of it. (Fed Scoop)
• Opinion – Open data accuracy: Open data is only as helpful as it is accurate. A “second-order open data problem”, inaccurately coded and difficult to standardize data can severely limit the utility of open data. (Tech President)

State and Local

• Ethics reform on its way to South Carolina? South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley released a comprehensive ethics reform package yesterday. The move responds to efforts by members of the Palmetto state’s legislature, but concerns have been raised that it was created without expert or public input. (Global Integrity)
• Lobbyists lobby for hire fees on lobbyists: California passed a bill that will require lobbyists and political candidates to pay a $50 a year registration fee. The bill, which would raise money to improve California’s lobbying and campaign finance disclosure portal, was supported by lobbyists. (Sacramento Bee)

RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:

• None.

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

• None.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES:

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