As stated in the note from the Sunlight Foundation′s Board Chair, as of September 2020 the Sunlight Foundation is no longer active. This site is maintained as a static archive only.

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Don’t Let Farm Bill Limit Access to Information

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Farm1On Wednesday the Sunlight Foundation joined with more than 40 other organizations to urge members of the conference committee on the Farm Bill to maintain public access to vital information about agricultural and livestock operations. Language included in the House passed version of the Farm Bill, which is serving as the basis for conference negotiations, would undermine the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and prevent the public from accessing information that might have a direct effect on their quality of life. Similar language was previously removed from the Senate version of the bill. The language, which is very broad and very vague, requires the government to withhold basic information about the location of livestock and agricultural operations. The language was intended to protect the privacy of small family farms, but it is so broad that it can be applied to large corporate operations. Furthermore, there are already strong exemptions in the FOIA for personal, private information that provide small farmers with protection. You can view the full text of the letter here, or by clicking below.

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Where’s the G8 Open Data Charter Action Plan?

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G8 FlickrEarlier this year the United States, along with the other G8 countries, signed on to an Open Data Charter. The document represented a high-level, international commitment to open data and transparency. It committed G8 countries to five important open data principles, including making open data the default. The document required signatories to release action plans for implementing the Charter by the end of October. Thanks to a tip from our friends at the German chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation we've found that, so far, only Britain and Italy have released their full plans (Japan has a draft plan available). There has been no talk, that we can find, about the U.S. action plan.

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Senate Committee Marks Up DATA Act, Clearing Way For Further Action

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Credit Cards FlickrYesterday morning, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs considered and passed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) on a voice vote. The original legislation, introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mark Warner (D-VA), was replaced by an amendment in the nature of a substitute co-introduced by a number of committee members, including Senator Portman, and passed unanimously. The amended legislation retains the soul of the original bill, which aims to standardize and open federal spending data, while making some concerning changes. Specifically, the Senate's new version scraps strong accountability mechanisms in an effort to keep costs down and fails to solve some governance problems that have long limited accurate federal spending data.

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A Brief History of Secretive Trade Negotiations

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Over the past two years there has been a steady drip of stories about the secretive negotiations regarding the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Members of Congress and congressional staffers have been stymied in their efforts to perform some measure of oversight while major corporations have reportedly been given unfettered access and influence over the deal. The public has been kept almost completely in the dark regarding negotiations that affect everything from food prices to our ability to innovate on the Internet. The TPP is just the most recent in a growing stable of not-so-transparent negotiations.

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Today in #OpenGov 11/6/2013

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Big Picture

  • Rhetoric around open data has recently turned sharply towards its potential economic effects. The author argues that transparency and open government should be about accountability, not money. (Jonathan Gray/The Guardian)
National News
  • A new book on the 2012 campaign claims that President Obama attended a super PAC fundraiser as the race ran down, despite earlier pledges to the contrary. The White House has pushed back against that claim, saying that the party in question was merely a "thank-you" bash. (POLITICO)
  • The National Republican Senatorial Committee is changing its 2012 tone and will engage in Republican primaries, potentially backing more "traditional" GOP candidates over Tea Party favorites. The NRSC hopes to avoid running flawed candidates as they try to claw back the majority in the Senate. (Roll Call)
International News
  • Recent discussions about ethics in open development have potentially posed more questions than they have answered. The ideas raised here revolve around informed consent and participation. (Open Knowledge Blog)
State and Local News
  • As part of its endless quest to understand seemingly everything about the world, Google is urging local governments to release more data. Google will likely use local data to make user results even more personalized and localized. (Government Technology)
  • Big money couldn't slow down Chris Christie's landslide victory in Virginia's gubernatorial election, but it has been used to make his life more difficult in the coming months. Outside groups have spent tens of millions on legislative races in an attempt to maintain a large Democratic majority. (New York Times)

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Today in #OpenGov 11/5/2013

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National News

  • Joe Biden, along with President Obama and plenty of other politicians, canceled some fundraisers during the shutdown. But, now that the government's up and running again it's time to party! The Vice President will appear at a high dollar fundraiser for the DCCC in Baltimore. (POLITICO)
  • John Bolton, former U.N Ambassador under George W. Bush, is getting back in the foreign policy game in an unlimited way with a new super PAC. Bolton's PAC, which stems from the idea that "Americans don't care about foreign policy," will presumably support candidates that fit Bolton's right leaning neoconservative approach. (Executive Goverment)
  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is set to mark up the DATA Act on Wednesday. The Committee will likely make some major changes that could weaken accountability standards included in the current Senate version. (Federal News Radio, Data Transparency Coalition)
International News
  • The OGP Summit last week in London provided a launching pad for a new Legislative Openness Working Group that represents a partnership between civil society, parliaments, and governments around the world. The group is anchored by the Congress of Chile and NDI. (Opening Parliament)
  • Students and faculty who participate in student government at Hungarian universities receive "public service scholarships" and bonus payments for the work that they do. Details about these payments at Hungary's largest university will be available to the public for the first time thanks to a freedom of information request filed by the blog Transparent Education. (Transparency International)
State and Local News
  • The federal government might be able to learn a few lessons from state and local governments in the wake of the recent shutdown. While the Obama Administration has embraced open data, states and municipalities have often been first movers when it comes to opening their information and taking proactive steps towards transparency. (Slate)
  • An investigation, and the resulting record fine, into the practices of two California dark money groups is shedding some light onto the ways that well funded donors and groups are influencing elections across the country. The California Fair Political Practices Commission exposed some of the techniques these groups used to launder donations and hide their funding sources.  (Washington Post)

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