NEWS:

• Conservative members of the House are continuing their ill advised crusade against the Census Bureau, and Stephen Colbert had some things to say about recently introduced legislation that would effect business’ ability to plan for the short and long term. (Government Executive)
• Following revelations that the Justice Department obtained a wide range of records about several journalists a bipartisan group of House members is pushing for legislation that would require federal entities to meet certain conditions before taking personal information from a journalist. (POLITICO)
• The Australian government admitted last week that they unintentionally censored more than 1,200 websites while trying to take one allegedly fraudulent site offline. Australia requires ISPs to block sites suspected of illegal activity if asked by the government. (Tech President)
• Remember Buck McKeon (R-CA), the Armed Services Committee chairman whose wife’s run for California state assembly was bankrolled by defense contractors? His family is back and trying to use his power for their financial gain. Golden Oak Consulting, run by three of McKeon’s relatives, is lobbying for a couple of companies with armed services interests. (Roll Call)
• As immigration reform legislation gains steam in Congress lobbyists are picking up their pace. The Chamber of Commerce, labor groups, and Silicon Valley are making major headlines and a host of other groups are staying under the radar but lobbying hard nonetheless. (The Hill)
• Prosecutors are planning to seek a retrial against five former officials in Bell, California who are accused of rampant corruption. A judge declared a mistrial in March after jurors failed to come to consensus on several counts. (AP/Yahoo)
• The DATA Act was reintroduced in the House and Senate last week. The legislation, which has been slightly simplified from the version that failed to pass through the 112th Congress, was passed out of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform yesterday. (Federal Computer Week, POGO)

BILLS:

• S.994. A bill to expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to increase accountability and transparency in Federal spending, and for other purposes. (DATA Act)
• H.R. 2061. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013. (DATA Act)

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