Sunlight Foundation

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The House Judiciary Committee is planning to subpoena the Obama administration for documents outlining the legal justification for killing American citizens suspected of terrorism while abroad. The subpoena comes after the administration missed a deadline set by the committee's chair and ranking member to turn over the documents. (The Hill)
• States don't do a very good job making information about income tax rates and common tax forms available on their websites. A new study by the Tax Foundation found that only five states had information about income tax rates five clicks or less deep into their websites. (Government Technology)
• President Obama's budget recommends a .94% cut to the GPO's outlay for FY2014. The budget includes large cuts to the GPO's printing and binding budget and a healthy bump to its revolving fund, which would be used to pay for projects related to FDsys as well as IT improvements. (Fierce Government)
• Obama's budget also shifts responsibility for USASpending.gov from GSA to the Treasury Department. Treasury will work to identify medium and long term changes to the site.  (Executive Government)
• When President Obama travels to the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, for which W raised over $500 million, later this month he'll be doing a little fundraising of his own. The President and Michelle Obama will fly in a night early to hit up donors. (Washington Times)
• Likely 2016 GOP candidate and boy wonder Marco Rubio raised $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2013. Whether he's prepping for his reelection bid or a White House run, he looks to be on the right track. (POLITICO)
• Former Florida Representative Connie Mack tried and failed to take his dad's old job in the Senate last year. This month, he's following his father to K Street. He will join Liberty Partners, where Connie Mack Senior is already a partner. (Roll Call)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Progress Kentucky, a nascent super PAC formed to badger Mitch McConnell, has  only managed to raise $1,000 since its inception late last year, but has proven much more adept at getting national headlines. They first made the scene in February with a racist tweet about McConnell's wife, now rumor has it they were behind recordings of McConnell campaign strategy sessions. (Washington Post)
• Almost half a million people petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking them to make publicly-traded corporations disclose their political spending. The petition is on the SEC's long term schedule, but its future is unclear. (NPR)
• Organizing for Action raised just shy of $5 million in its first quarter of operations, pulling an average of $44 from over 100,000 individual donors... (Washington Post)
• ...they did manage to find a few high dollar donors, including Philip Munger who gave $250,000 and the National Education Association who chipped in more than $15,000. (Roll Call)
• Tech President talks about the Knight News Challenge in podcast form. (Tech President)
• It's pretty easy to start a super PAC, so easy that any amateur with the wherewithal to file papers with the FEC and open a bank account can do it. This has led to some serious public relations headaches for the major parties, who have no way to exert control over all of these groups.  (POLITICO)
• Congress moved quickly and quietly late last week to strip the STOCK act of much of its power while rolling back some of its more controversial provisions. The House followed suit Friday after the Senate passed legislation late on Thursday. President Obama also snuck an announcement that he would sign the legislation in to a court filing on Friday. (Roll Call)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Office of Government Ethics weighed in in favor of the recent NAPA report that recommended indefinite suspension of a STOCK Act requirement that would have put financial disclosure reports from 28,000 Federal employees online. (Washington Post)
• Wal-Mart is lending its might to the National Retail Federation, one of Washington's bigger retail trade associations. The NRF has invested heavily in its Washington presence recently, spending more than $3.5 million lobbying last year. (The Hill)
• New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has helped convince several Fortune 500 to tell their shareholders about political contributions that they make with corporate funds. DiNapoli targets companies held in the New York State Retirement fund and has come to agreements with 18 over the past three years. (K Street cafe)
• A former deputy Senate Sergeant at Arms and high level aide to Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking a trip through the revolving door. Martina Bradford, who is no stranger to the influence industry with previous stints at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld as well as AT&T, is joining the Bockorny Group as a principal. (The Hill)
• ManaBalss, an effort to get Latvian citizens directly involved in their government, has had some significant successes since it launched in 2010. It is seen as a big step in a country that has seen low levels of political engagement and trust in government. (Tech President)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Indian government sponsored its first hackathon over the weekend. more than 1,900 participants located at 10 education institutions across the country hacked on apps and infographics related to India's latest 5 year-plan. (Tech President)
• Meanwhile, the White House is hosting its second hackathon on Jun 1. They've set the lofty goal of creating "full, production-ready applications and visual tools," that can be used on the We The People petition system. (Federal Computer Week)
• Companies are likely to pursue a variety of strategies as they fight to save their favorite credits during the looming fight over tax reform. A number of them have hit on the same idea: find a path to the power. To this end, a diverse set of firms has signed up lobbyists with strong ties to Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus.  (New York Times)
• Yvette Fontenot,  one of the Obama administration's top health care officials, is joining Democratic lobbying shop Avenue Solutions. She previously served stints at HHS and in the White House Office of Health Reform, where she helped to implement Obamacare. (The Hill)
• On the other side of the aisle, former GOP staff director and general counsel for the House Administration Committee Phil Kiko is joining the Smith-Free group. The firm represents companies like Bank of America, MasterCard, and Sony Pictures. (The Hill)
• By the end of April all five remaining FEC commissioners will be serving expired terms. The FEC has an increasingly large workload and has often failed to enforce the most basic rules or agree to pursue the most obvious violations. (Roll Call)
• Ready for Hillary PAC is gaining some momentum in its quest to support Hillary Clinton's not yet existent 2016 White House bid. Last week James Carville wrote an email supporting the group's efforts and now Harold Ickes, a major Clinton fundraiser and strategist, as signed on to advise the PAC and help them raise money. (Washington Post)