Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Corporations have been getting involved in this year's election cycle, but not necessarily with large cash donations. Many companies have been donating "in-kind" goods and services to super PACs. (Washington Times)
- Super PACs have continued to dominate the Republican presidential nomination race. In fact, last month, the super PAC supporting Mitt Romney raised more money than his actual campaign. (Washington Post)
- Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has already given $11 million to a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC, has indicated that he is willing to spend up to $100 million to support Gingrich or the eventual Republican presidential nominee. Ron Paul (R-TX) is the only candidate that Adelson would decline to support. (National Journal)
- NIC inc. has won a contract to redesign and manage Maryland's web portal over the next five years. NIC manages the websites of 27 states and a number of municipalities across the country. (Government Technology)
- A constituent seeking information about Representative Steven Palazzo's (R-MS) 2001 district schedule was told to file a FOIA request for the records. Unfortunately, records of this type are exempt from the law. (Roll Call $)
International
- On February 15, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance became operational and binding on African Union member states. The charter aims to improve accountability among African governments. (Open Society Blog)
- The Open Government Partnership gained two new members recently. The addition of Panama and Costa Rica brings OGP membership to 52 countries. 42 countries are slated to debut their plans at the first OGP summit in Brasilia, Brazil in April. (Fierce Government)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/17/2012
Here is the week's last look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Seven Democratic Senators called on the IRS to investigate nonprofit "social welfare" organizations that are heavily engaged in political activities. These groups have spent tens of millions of dollars for political purposes since the Citizens United decision, and do not have to disclose their donors. (Politico)
- An Illinois based PAC is suing the state, claiming that a law that prohibits a PAC from establishing additional PACs to raise more money, is inconsistent with the Citizens United and other court decisions. (Courthouse News)
- The EPA and the Department of Commerce are hoping to launch their FOIA portal this fall. Yesterday, the Office of Government Information Services allowed a sneak peak. (Investigative Reporting Workshop)
- More than 20 members of federal advisory committees de-registered as lobbyists after the Obama administration banned registered lobbyists from the panels in 2009. Critics say the rule simply encourages lobbyists to move into the shadows. (The Hill)
- Editorial: The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) a corporate backed organization that writes legislation for state legislators, should be required to register as a lobbyist in Wisconsin. (The Cap Times)
- The MPAA pulled some new staff through the revolving door. New hires include veterans of the Justice Department, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the White House. (National Journal)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/16/2012
Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- House Democrats are pushing Dan Lungren (R-CA), Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, to hold an oversight hearing on super PACs and the role of undisclosed money in the American political system. (The Hill)
- PG&E, a controversial California utility company, donated $10,000 to a super PAC supporting Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). His primary opponent, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), is using this connection in a new piece of attack mail. (Politico)
- Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY) asked President Obama to exclude HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from a new policy allowing administration officials to attend fundraisers for pro-Obama super PACs. He claims that her participation would present a clear conflict of interest because she is overseeing the roll out of health care reform. (National Journal)
- The Federal government has taken many steps to make information available online. But, the goal of a fully transparent federal budget publicly available online is still far from fruition. (Federal Computer Week)
- Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is losing his Chief of Staff to the revolving door. C.R. Wooters is leaving to join Purple Strategies. (Roll Call $)
International
- Europeans view corruption as one of the most important challenges facing the continent, according to a new survey. (Transparency International)
- From September 17th to 22nd, 2012 Helsinki, Finland will play host to both the Open Government Data Camp and the Open Knowledge Conference. (Open Knowledge Foundation)
- Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) asked Twitter for more information about the company's new policy to censor some tweets in certain countries. They also urged Twitter to join the Global Network Initiative, a voluntary code for tech companies to protect human rights. (The Hill)
Improper payments are down, but there is still room to improve
Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post. Last Tuesday, a House Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss improper payments by... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 2/15/2012
Here is the Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who is running for Congress in Illinois' 8th district, took a cue from the Massachusetts Senate race and challenged her primary opponent Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) to reject super PAC contributions. (National Journal)
- President Obama spoke publicly for the first time about his change in opinion on super PACs. He stressed that he would not back down while his opponents utilize the funding mechanisms. (Politico)
- The Justice Department won this years Rosemary Award, presented by the George Washington University-based National Security Archive. The award honors the agency that has done the most to enhance government secrecy and keep the public in the dark. (Washington Post)
- Performance.gov currently lacks performance data about federal operations. But, President Obama's budget proposal appears to aim at publishing agency goal progress by the fall of 2012. (Fierce Government)
- On his last day as Federal CTO, Aneesh Chopra unveiled an Open Innovator's Toolkit to highlight best practices and address the shift and expansion of open innovation. (Fierce Government)
State and Local
- The State Integrity Investigation has released extensive data on transparency in U.S. State Governments. (iWatch News)
- Frederick, Maryland's government spending data is now available online through the new Transparent Frederick portal. Additional features are expected in the coming months. (Government Technology)
- The open source platform DistrictBuilder, was created as part of the Public Mapping Project to allow citizens to have their voices heard in the redistricting process. (Gov Fresh)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/14/2012
Here is Tuesday's take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- Most Republican presidential candidates have declined to disclose the identities of their bundlers. (Yahoo/AP)
- At least four Cabinet secretaries have signaled their willingness to participate in activities aimed at helping Democratic super PACs raise money. (iWatch News)
- The Obama administration's 2013 budget proposal does not include a previously considered plan to require contractors to disclose political contributions when submitting contract bids. (Federal Computer Week)
- Civic Commons, created to foster the use of open-source technology in government, will become part of Code for America. Civic Commons work helping governments build open software that can be shared among jurisdictions will be discontinued. (Tech President)
- The Open Source Digital Voting Foundation is working to make election software more open and secure. (Gov Fresh)
International
- India is the first major democratic country to request that internet companies institute sweeping content filtering policies. Google, Facebook Twitter, and other companies are slated to present plans for filtering "offensive content" by February 21. (Global Voices)
- Brazil, a co-chair of the OGP, is scheduled to host a meeting of more than 50 participating countries in April. But, they have struggled to secure broad citizen participation in their own OGP plans. (Observing Brazil)
2Day in #OpenGov 2/13/2012
Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Campaign Finance
- A major donor to the Rick Santorum supporting Red, White, and Blue Fund, Wyoming Millionaire Foster Friess, was at CPAC last week to introduce the former Senator. (National Journal)
- Editorial: The DISCLOSE Act is desperately needed. (New York Times)
- The New Hampshire Legislature passed a law to make open data and open source software included by default in the state's procurement process. (Tech President)
- A former legislative adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services is joining Group Health Cooperative as its director of federal government relations. In addition to HHS, Madeline Otto has previously worked as a legislative assistant to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). (National Journal)
- The Aerospace Industries Association hired their new vice president of acquisition policy from the House Appropriations Committee. William Greenwalt has deep government procurement experience. (Federal Computer Week)
International
- After a year of high profile anti-corruption protests, a new report shows that state-owned companies have made progress becoming more open. (Transparency International)
- Iran appears to be instituting an internet blackout in advance of protests planned for Tuesday. (Global Voices)
- America Speaks and Global Voices are hosting a webinar to explore how Open Government Partnership countries can more effectively engage with their citizens while developing their OGP Action Plans. (Global Integrity)
House Considers CFPB Accountability
Policy Intern Cassandra LaRussa wrote this post. On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 2/10/2012
Here is the week's last look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Government
- Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for possible insider trading violations. (Washington Post)
- The House Administration Committee and the Library of Congress are trying to make it easier to find live video streams of house committee hearings. They created one centralized site to hold all relevant links. (ICT Parliament)
International
- A 2006 court case in Chile paved the way for access to public information laws throughout Latin America. Currently, 14 of the regions 19 countries have laws on the books, more than any other developing region in the world. (Open Society Blog)
- Brazil requested an injunction from Twitter to stop users from tweeting about police roadblocks, radar traps, and drunk-driving checkpoints. It appears to be the first time that a country has taken Twitter up on its plans to allow censorship of tweets that might break local laws. (Yahoo/AP)
State and Local
- The office of the New York City Comptroller currently provides comprehensive, daily updates on almost every check issued by the city. Now, they revamping their website and preparing to release the source code under an open-source license. (Tech President)
- The Washington, DC Attorney General ruled that a proposed ballot initiative to ban corporate donations to city candidates is eligible to move forward. Initiative organizers will have to gather 22,000 signatures to gain ballot access. (Washington Post)
The Senate Judiciary Committee votes to televise Supreme Court arguments
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to favorably report a bill that would require the Supreme Court to allow... View Article
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