NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Rockstar, Inc., the maker of Rockstar Energy Drink, has hired a team of influence rockstars to make its case in Washington. Rockstar isn’t pulling punches for or its first foray into the influence game. The company signed on a team from the Podesta Group that includes at least 7 former congressional staffers. (Public Integrity)
• The SEIU is opening its wallet to support the idea of comprehensive immigration reform over the airwaves. The $300,000 ad buy is the latest in a series that the union plans to air as the debate continues in Congress. (Roll Call)
• A new report from US PIRG showing that many states made progress in how they make spending data available online over the past few years. There is still plenty of room for improvement though. PIRG only handed out 7 “A”  and 9 “B” grades. (Government Technology)
• The LGBT rights lobby has made some significant strides in the past few years, including a high profile hearing in front of the Supreme Court yesterday, and they’ve spent accordingly. The Human Rights Campaign dropped more than $1.3 million on lobbying last year and its PAC has given to key lawmakers, including Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) who announced her support for gay marriage on Sunday. (Public Integrity)
• Organizing for Action is looking to raise as much money as humanly possible, but they’re also butting into a battle for campaign finance reform currently raging in New York. On Tuesday they contacted 744,000 members in New York endorsing reforms that would include public financing of elections in the state. (Huffington Post, POLITICO, New York Times)
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is getting into the political game with a new 501(c)(4) that will be supported by a number of other tech executives and led by Joe Green, founder of Causes.com and Zuckerberg’s former roommate. The organization will focus on maintaining the US’s economic competitiveness and its first issue will be immigration reform…(The Hill)
• Opinion: …Meanwhile Micah Sifry, a technology advisor to the Sunlight Foundation, is urging Facebook to “start taking its own civic responsibilities more seriously, especially as it comes to how Facebook implicitly influences political processes all over the world.” He suggests that the company should start Facebook.org as a place to aggregate everything the company does ” that affect the civic arena.”(Tech President)

RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:

• H.R. 836. Sunshine on Conflicts Act of 2013.
• H.R. 1203. Judicial Transparency and Ethics Enhancement Act of 2013.
• H.R. 1289. National Fab Lab Network Act of 2013.

HAPPENING TODAY 3/27:

• Big Data: Is it working for government? Government Executive. 7:30 – 9:30 am. Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC.

HAPPENING TOMORROW 3/28: 

• Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: Detecting and preventing wasteful and improper payments. Federal Computer Week. 7:30 – 11:30 am. Willard InterContinental Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20004.
• Information Session: US and International Anti-Corruption Law Summer Program. AU WCL. 12:00 – 1:00 pm. AU WCL, 4801 Massachusetts Ave NW, International Lounge, Washington, DC 20016.
• Chad and the Darfur Crisis: How radio made a difference. Internews. 9:30 – 11:30 am. Human Rights Campaign, 1640 Rhode Island Ave, NW, first floor.

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