Today in #OpenGov 10/22/2013

by

National News

  • The Chamber of Commerce might be butting heads with some of the more conservative members of the Republican Party, but that hasn’t stopped the business group from spending lavishly on lobbying. According to recent filings, the Chamber dropped more than $4 million per month over the past quarter to influence the government. (Roll Call)
  • Want to get a sense of Twitter’s political priorities in advance of their IPO? The company first filed to lobby in July of this year and included a long and varied legislative do to list on their reports. (Roll Call)
  • The Census Bureau released an updated schedule for the various economic reports that they normally released but were delayed by the government shutdown. The shutdown will push many of these reports back by several weeks. (Government Executive)
  • Intellectual Ventures, accused of being one of the larger patent trolls terrorizing innovators, is stepping up its lobbying in the face of mounting media pressure and movement on the Hill to reform patent laws. (The Hill)

International News

  • Kathleen Wynn, the premiere of Ontario, Canada is using the opaque, and costly, cancellation of two gas plants as political cover to push for more government transparency. The politician wrote a rare open letter to citizens pledging to set “the default to open.” (The Star)
  • With the second anniversary of the Open Government Partnership fast approaching some countries have unfortunate splits between their OGP commitments and their attitudes towards journalists. Many journalists do not know about the OGP, and commitments tend to ignore issues of free speech and media freedoms. (The Guardian)

State and Local News

  • This article looks at the growing open data movement in American municipalities through the lens of steps being taken in San Fransisco, including a performance barometer. (The Guardian)

Events Tomorrow

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