2Day in #OpenGov 5/21/2013

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NEWS:

  • Former New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg (R) locked down a gig in the private sector. He will serve as CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a major Wall Street trade group. (The Hill)
  • Florida released a new smart phone app to coincide with the current session of its legislature. The app, which has been downloaded nearly 3,500 times, allows users to find and share bill summaries, meeting notices, information about their legislators, and more. (Government Technology)
  • Former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (D) is rumored to be considering a Senate run, but he hasn’t let that stop him from taking a new job in the mining industry. Schweitzer is going to chair the board of the Stillwater Mining Company. He was first elected to Stillwater’s board only three weeks ago. (Washington Post)
  • In an effort to investigate information leaks about North Korea the Justice Department delved deeply into the life of Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen. The DoJ obtained his telephone records, tracked his movements through State Department security badge records, obtained a search warrant for his personal email account. (Washington Post)
  • An investigation of subsidies given by the DC government to property developments over the past decade shows that more than a third of the $1.7 billion in breaks doled out by the city went to ten developers that donated huge amounts of campaign cash during the period. (WAMU)
  • Russia is stepping back from it’s 2012 “letter of intent” to join the Open Government Partnership, instead saying that it will pursue open government “on its own terms”. Russia’s questionable record on corruption, press freedom, and more had made its interest in the OGP slightly quizzical to begin with. (Open Government Partnership)
  • State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is officially jumping into the political arena with a new PAC. While the company has a long history of giving from it’s employees, it had previously been one of only nine companies in the Fortune 75 without a federal PAC.(Roll Call)

BILLS:

  • S.Res.143A resolution recognizing the threats to freedom of the press and expression around the world and reaffirming freedom of the press as a priority in the efforts of the United States Government to promote democracy and good governance on the occaision of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2013.

TODAY

TOMORROW:

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