NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Italian Senate began publishing all of its bills in XML earlier this month. They have also recently released an open data portal. (ICT Parliament)
• Federal agencies were required to file reports on how they handled FOIA requests by February 1. However, as of the 27th only five out of 15 cabinet departments have their reports publicly listed on the Justice Department’s central site. (Investigative Reporting Workshop)
• Federal CTO Todd Park thinks that open-data innovation is going to unleash a “whole new wave of awesomeness for our country,” from mapmakers and geospatial developers. (Federal Computer Week)
• A new report from Demos, a left-leaning nonprofit policy organization, suggests that recent changes in campaign finance laws have helped widen the power imbalance between wealthy and poor Americans. (Public Integrity)
• K Street is taking signs that Capitol Hill is preparing to deal with tax reform seriously. Lobbyists are stepping up outreach, trying to save their clients’ preferred tax breaks. (The Hill)
• One of House Speaker John Boehner’s closest advisers is heading through the revolving door and onto K street. Barry Jackson, who has worked with Boehner sine his first house race and most recently served as his chief of staff, will join Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as a strategic adviser. (The Hill)
• Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, the former mayor of Greece’s second largest city, and two of his top aides were sentenced to life in prison this week. They were convicted of embezzling more than $23 million in public money. (New York Times)

RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:

• H.R. 661. Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act.
• H.R. 749. Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act.

HAPPENING TODAY 3/1:

• Following the money to combat terrorism and crime: case studies in Mexico and Argentina. GMU. 12:00 – 1:30 pm. George Mason University – School of Public Policy, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Founders Hall, Arlington, VA 22201.
• Caste politics, corruption and distribution in India. Inter-American Development Back. 12:00 pm. 1300 New York Avenue, Andrews Bello 4/5 NW, Washington, DC.

Do you want to track transparency news? You can add our feed to your Google Reader, or view it on our Netvibes page. You can  follow the progress of relevant bills on our Scout page.  You can also get 2Day in #OpenGov sent directly to your reader!