The American Baking Association has successfully lobbied for an exemption from the new food safety law, as Sunlight’s Reporting Group... View Article
Continue readingRulemaking in the dark: Little disclosure when big food lobbies the FDA
Last January, when the Food and Drug Administration released strict new rules for ensuring the cleanliness of food production, distribution and warehousing facilities, the American Bakers Association crowed in a press release that they'd "won a major victory" for its members. They had--the proposed rules wouldn't apply to many of their warehouses.
Not mentioned in that press release was the person who helped the ABA achieve the win: Miriam Guggenheim, a food policy focused attorney with Covington and Burling. Though she has not been registered as a lobbyist since 2010--before Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act--her online ...
Continue readingFeds have no policy on posting meetings
While the federal government has extensive rules about how its regulatory agencies makes rules--with notices, publication schedules and comment periods--there is no government-wide policy for providing information to the public about meetings between executive branch officials and private interests. These contacts between regulators those seeking to influence them--refered to as ex parte meetings--can have a profound effect on the final shape of the rules that govern everything from disposing of trash to disclosing positions in complex derivatives. Yet there is no uniform requirement to make information about these meetings available to the public, let alone whether or not agencies must ...
Continue readingWho’s giving how much in Colorado gun recall? Who knows?
DENVER -- Amidst reports of a torrent of some $3.5 million in spending, much of it from out of state, on today's recall elections for two Colorado state senators who voted in favor of stronger gun control laws, it appears all but certain that the actual tab will be much, much more. That's because of the big black hole even intrepid journalists fall in when trying to put together solid numbers on how much is being spent here.
A number of major spenders in the race are not required to report their contributors or expenditures to the Colorado ...
Continue readingOut of state money pouring into Colorado gun recall races
A week before a much-watched recall election for two Colorado state legislators who voted in favor of strengthening gun restrictions last spring, the contest is attracting the kind of heavy political artillery normally reserved for national and statewide elections.
Continue readingUnder the radar lobbying: How food suppliers are pushing back on safety regs
Among the many groups pushing for exemption from new food safety rules meant to prevent outbreaks of deady bacteria are a group of dry bulb onion farmers from Idaho and Oregon.
"To date there has never been a documented food safety issue with dry bulbs. Onions have a protective covering and curing process that greatly reduce food safety risks," wrote a cluster of at least 47 onion farmers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last May. "Onions are never consumed without first being peeled. Because of these factors we feel that dry bulb onions should be exempt." The group ...
Continue readingMining interests want to mine near streams
When a House subcommittee takes up a mining industry-backed bill at a hearing Friday, it will mark another episode in a highly partisan saga dating back at least to the George W. Bush Administration involving the dumping of waste from coal mines near streams. The bill, H.R. 2824, is sponsored by Reps. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Douglas Lamborn, R-Colo., both of whom count the mining industry among their top contributors, according to Influence Explorer.
Environmentalists charge the Bush-era rule repealed decades-old, though not well enforced, prohibitions on mining activities within 100 feet of streams. The mining industry backs the ...
Continue readingTimeline: Five years of Party Time, Sunlight’s political fundraiser tracker
During the five years that we've been compiling nearly 18,000 invitations for political fundraisers in our Party Time database, reporters both within and outside Sunlight, activists, and policy makers have found ample ways to use it to extend our understanding of how government works, to make headlines and to give the lowdown on political high rollers. This timeline shows some of the highlights, from reporter Harry Hanbury, who tried to attend every fundraiser held in the nation's capital in one day to the Twitter firestorm that followed Party Time's reporting of a Google-sponsored fundraiser for conservative Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. Jump in and take a look.
Ex post facto lobbying: Banks blitz regulators to soften Dodd-Frank’s impact
The same financial interests that lobbied Congress when the Dodd-Frank reform legislation was being considered have turned their efforts toward the executive branch as it crafts rules implementing the law.
Continue readingDodd-Frank meeting data need improvement
As much as big data can tell us about how the big financial institutions that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis are dominating the rule writing for the Dodd-Frank law, our reporting has alerted us to the limitations of the data -- and to how important it is to watchdog.
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