Sunlight Foundation

Here is Wednesday's rainy look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Sarah Kuehl, a veteran Senate Budget Committee staffer, has been selected to serve as deputy staff director for the Super Committee. (National Journal)
• It will be "very, very hard" for the Super Committee to come to an agreement, according to Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyle (R-AZ). (Politico)

Access to Information

• The D.C. Open Government Coalition (DCOGC) obtained résumés of over 60 top political appointees in Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s administration that were previously withheld under FOIA. (DCOGC)
• A review of how agencies manage their business and accounting information technology systems indicates that not enough data is being publicly released, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA). (Next Gov)
• A year after being warned that it could be violating federal law, the SEC is still illegally destroying records of closed enforcement cases, according to a whistleblower. (Washington Post)

Technology

• Federal agencies often use manual processes to transfer information between their IT management systems, according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Federal Computer Week)
• He Said, She Said is a web application that screen scrapes and parses PDFs of local government meeting minutes into readable text and usable data. (techPresident)
• Opinion: David Perera writes that federal fear of open source technology causes the government to avoid cost saving opportunities. (Fierce Government)

State and Local

• A campaign staffer handling the finances of top California Democrats allegedly embezzled over $600,000 from a state assemblyman. (Roll Call $)
• Nebraska has voted to approve a fund to reimburse the governor's spouse for expenses resulting from his or her position as first spouse that won't conflict with state gift and contribution laws. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Cook County, Illinois is setting a high standard for local open government initiatives with Look at Cook. (O'Reilly Radar)
• Kentucky's ethics commission has issued recommendations for reforming the state's ethics code. (Lobby Comply Blog)

Here is Tuesday's look at the [[short!]] week's transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Nearly 100 registered lobbyists have worked for the 12 members of the super committee, and six current employees are former lobbyists. (National Journal)(Washington Post)

Lobbying

• Netflix's global expansion has been accompanied by an enlargement of its DC lobbying and policy staff. (Washington Post)
• BP America has selected former Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell as its head of communications. (Politico)

Technology

• Google has launched a website that allows users to post and vote for questions in anticipation of the upcoming GOP debate, which will be held on September 22nd in Orlando, Florida. (Mashable)
• The digital citizen engagement platform Change by Us has been up and running in New York City since July, and will be launched in Philadelphia and Seattle this fall. (Government Technology)

State and Local

• A news app developer at The Chicago Tribune is moving to Tyler, Texas, and has decided to hack city data to create sustainable and valuable community projects. (O'Reilly Radar)
• The Georgia state ethics commission has named a lobbyist as its new executive director. (Atlantic Journal-Constitution)

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Happy Labor Day Weekend! Here is Friday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

• An "IT cartel" of major federal contractors is limiting government efficiency, according to former federal CIO Vivek Kundra. (Federal Computer Week)
• The Government Business Council has compiled a briefing outlining how new federal CIO Steven VanRoekel is expected to implement Kundra's technology agenda with less financial flexibility. (Next Gov)
• OMB Watch has submitted recommendations for the Obama Administration's Open Government Partnership (OGP) national plan. (OMB Watch)

Campaign Finance

• Interest groups are questioning the status of the Obama Administration's draft executive order that would require federal contractors to disclose political contributions. (Politico)

Technology

• Agency apps should be updated regularly and should not contain so much content that they are overwhelming to users, according to government app experts. (Next Gov)
• Virginia has launched a new online interactive traffic crash database to provide the public with better information regarding highway safety in the state. (Gov Tech)

State and Local

• Chicago's new lobbyist disclosure database, available through the City of Chicago Data Portal, ties information together in a way that actually shows the connections between" client, lobbyist, and city hall." (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Wyoming lawmakers are drafting legislation seeking to create an exemption from the state's public records law for emails sent to members of city councils, school boards, and other elected bodies. (trib.com)
• California Watch, founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting, has created a database allowing users to search who is lobbying any bill before the state Legislature. (California Watch)

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September, already! Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Democratic members of the Super Committee had a conference call yesterday to discuss strategy and administrative matters. (National Journal)(Government Executive)

Government

• The White House has created a new webpage called "We the People" that allows people to create and sign petitions advocating for government action. (Federal News Radio)
• Despite a massive AT&T lobbying campaign, the Department of Justice is going to court to stop the proposed merger with T-Mobile. (Politico)

Campaign Finance

• A proposal before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted by ten law professors seeks to require public corporations to list political contributions in annual shareholder statements. (Washington Post)

Technology

• Former federal CIO Vivek Kundra envisions creating a global "Cloud First" policy, which would force countries to work together to determine ways to share cloud data. (Federal Times)
• The Veterans Affairs Department has launched an online open-source community in an attempt to update its Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) through crowdsourcing. (Federal Computer Week)
• The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) held their First International Workshop on Climate Informatics last week to discuss new tools, methods, and applications for climate data. (O'Reilly Radar)
• Electronic health records help doctors provide better care for their patients, according to a new study. (National Journal)
• O'Reilly Radar has published "Big Data Now," a free collection of Radar data coverage during the last year. (O'Reilly Radar)

State and Local

• Wisconsin is not following state contract transparency laws, according to a new audit. (Watchdog.org)

International

• An Indian government agency launched a wiki defining obscure economic terms to "enrich and enhance citizen friendly policy formulation through dialogue and collaborative action." (techPresident)

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Can you believe it's already the last day of August?? Summer has gone by far too quickly, if you ask me. The daily roundup carries on, however, with Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• Mark Prater, chief tax counsel for Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, has been chosen to serve as staff director of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. (New York Times)(Roll Call $)
• Republican committee members are meeting to discuss strategy prior to the full committee's first official meetings, which will take place after Labor Day. (Politico)

Government

• The Social Security Administration has made inroads in implementing the iAppeals application, and an increasing number of disability benefits decision appeals are being filed electronically. (Federal Computer Week)
• Only 23 percent of federal websites have implemented mandatory security measures to prevent hackers from redirecting visitors to fraudulent websites, a full year and a half after a White House deadline to do so. (Next Gov)
• POGO submitted a public comment to the GSA advocating for a comprehensive evaluation of a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision requiring mandatory contractor disclosure. (POGO)
• Performance.gov is not a useful resource in its current format, and falls short of its goal of meaningfully displaying agencies' quarterly performance data. (Fierce Government)
• The Veterans Affairs Department’s two-year-old IT project oversight system is still in need of work, according to a new IG audit. (Federal Computer Week)
• President Obama wrote a letter to House Speaker Boehner defending his regulatory agenda despite its costs. (Washington Post)
• A recommendation suggesting that federal agencies translate online background information about proposed new regulations into multiple languages other than English could cause partisan disagreement and garner few results, according to the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). (Next Gov)

Campaign Finance

• Three Republican leadership PACs have joined together to create a new joint fundraising committee called the Young Guns Majority Victory Fund. (Politico)
• Several House freshmen who claimed goals of changing the way Washington works are now promoting legislation that could benefit some of their biggest campaign donors, according to USA Today.

Technology

• Motion control, balloon radio, augmented reality, intelligent streetlights, and unmanned aerial vehicles are five emerging technologies that are headed toward the government market. (Gov Tech)
• O'Reilly's director of market research Roger Magoulas discusses the potential role data science and big data could play in the financial world in expanding data types, directing investment strategies, and creating new businesses. (O'Reilly Radar)

State and Local

• Georgia is considering changes to its sunshine laws, including a bill that would increase fines and civil penalties if government agencies violate requirements of public access to records and meetings. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Missouri's Ethics Commission is underfunded and understaffed, according to a report by the state auditor. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• A New Jersey city council has adopted a new pay-to-play ordinance prohibiting "any business entity who submits a proposal for, enters into negotiations for, or agrees to any contract or agreement with the borough, from knowingly making any contribution to local candidates, candidate committee or joint candidates committees, PACs, or to holders of public office having ultimate responsibility for the award of a contract or agreement." (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Governor Pat Quinn signed into law HB 1716, which will restrict FOIA requests in Illinois. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)

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Here is Tuesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

• Defense spending needs more oversight to prevent wasteful expenditures, according to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD). (Washington Post)
• Federal government customer service has improved but is still less than satisfactory, according to a new study. (Gov Tech)
• The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) took 23 months to respond to a FOIA request submitted by The Daily News. (The Daily News)

Campaign Finance

• The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) will hold a meeting post-Labor Day to discuss the draft text message contribution regulation, which would permit candidates and committees to accept small donations via text. (Lobby Comply Blog)

Technology

• A new commission (CLOUD²/SLG) was launched Monday to advise state and local governments on how to move to the cloud. (Gov Tech)
• More Americans would prefer to communicate with government agencies through mobile apps rather than through social media or texting, according to a new survey. (Next Gov)
• mySociety's Tom Steinberg shares his thoughts on what it takes to build "meaningful, impactful civic and democratic web apps" that last more than a few months. (O'Reilly Radar)
• The army now includes social media as an important component of both its daily and crisis communication strategies. (Fierce Government)

State and Local

• The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission voted to stop enforcement of a 1992 law that provided candidates with "fair fight" money from the state if they agreed to voluntary spending limits, which their opponent exceeded. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• The Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the public has the right to access investigative police reports. (My Fox Spokane)

Here is Monday's look at the week's transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Super Committee

• When it comes to lobbying the Congressional Super Committee, lobbyists worry that it won't be "business as usual" in Washington. (Politico)

Government

• Performance.gov is having trouble complying with the 2010 Government Performance and Results Modernization Act due to the limited E-Government funding included in the 2011 budget. (National Journal)
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is not doing enough to protect the "confidentiality, integrity and availability" of bank financial systems and information, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit. (Gov Tech)
• OpenCongress' Danny Shaw points out that over 1,500 letters have been sent using OpenCongress' new platform that allows users to send letters to their elected officials, but only mentions one that received a response, causing techPresident to question whether there is any actual feedback loop between Capitol Hill and constituents. (techPresident)
• The Department of Justice refused to declassify a 2001 legal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel regarding the legality of the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program. (Secrecy News)
• The Merit Systems Protection Board's 2009 decision to uphold the firing of an air marshal has the potential to silence whistleblowers and should be overturned, according to the Office of Special Counsel. (Federal Times)
• Department of Homeland Security Chief Procurement Officer Nick Nayak wants the agency to have more transparent conversations with contractors before and after the agency issues contract requests. (Washington Post)
• President Obama plans to nominate Alan Krueger to replace Austan Goolsbee as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. (National Journal)

Campaign Finance

• Presidential candidate Governor Rick Perry's travel records - and the cost to Texan taxpayers of his travel - can be kept private for 18 months due to a provision in a school finance bill passed earlier this summer. (Washington Post)
• Political donations from New Jersey union workers are frequently sent out of state, thereby bypassing local campaign finance regulations. (NorthJersey.com)
• While Texan law prohibits elected officials from accepting campaign contributions while the Legislature is in session, Governor Rick Perry raised $22 million this year for the Republican Governors Association, a nonprofit political group that has been Perry's top donor during his tenure as governor. (Chron.com)
• Opinion: There is a statistical correlation of 99.669 percent between debt to GDP and congressional campaign spending increases, suggesting that the increasing amount of money in elections has played a role in causing the debt increases over the last three decades. (Politico)

Technology

• Real-time communication tools could soon replace the use of e-mail in the workplace, according to a survey of 1,400 CIOs across the US. (Gov Tech)
• Open source and free software were essential components of Steve Jobs' success. (O'Reilly Radar)

State and Local

• Even with California's mandatory "cooling off" period, which prevents legislators from lobbying the Legislature within a year of leaving office, former lawmakers have a relationship with sitting legislators that most other lobbyists never develop. (The Sacramento Bee)
• New York City's official city website crashed on the morning of Aug. 26th; the New York Times suggested the crash could have been a result of the large number of people looking for information regarding the hurricane. (Gov Tech)

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