National News
- A number of privacy advocates are urging the House bipartisan Privacy Working Group to hold their meetings with tech companies in the open. The working group held its first meeting last week and has 10 more scheduled. (The Hill)
- Former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) clearly likes seeing his name in the newspapers, but isn't so happy when it pops up in fundraising emails sent by potential political opponents. Brown, who is reportedly looking to return to the Senate via New Hampshire, where he vacations, attacked a fundraising email sent by Current New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D), calling it "shameful" to use his potential candidacy to raise money. (POLITICO)
- There were plenty of stories yesterday detailing the varying effects of the government shut down, including which agencies and which websites would go dark. A spot check of 56 Federal websites indicates that only 10 will go entirely dark, although others will be partially inaccessible. (ars techinca)
- There are many dedicated hobbyists creating tools with open government data, but so far few of them have transferred their ideas into sustainable, successful business models. A recent workshop held in Uruguay by the World Bank Group's Open Finances Team aimed to provide advice for open data nerds looking to take their ideas into a new realm. (World Bank Open Data Blog)
- Looking for "a comprehensive history" of open data in Chicago? Check out this blog post. (Data-Smart City Solutions)
- Oakland keeps up its week of good open gov news with a new web app aimed at helping the city manage and track incoming public records requests. RecordTrac allows users to track the progress of their requests and publicly archives all fulfilled requests. (Code for America)
- Newly released emails appear to indicate that Michael Bloomberg has followed in the footsteps of numerous public officials and used a private email account for some not-so-private business. The outgoing New York Mayor and billionaire exchanged emails with a deputy mayor using an @bloomberg.net email address. (DNAInfo)
Closure of disclosure: No FEC filings due during shutdown
In shutting down the government, the nation's lawmakers also guaranteed a little less surveillance on themselves.
Among the many agencies that will not be open for business as long as the political and budgetary stalemate continues is the Federal Election Commission, an agency created after the Watergate scandal. The idea was to reduce the possibilities of corruption in politics by making campaign donations more transparent.
For the foreseeable future at least, those donations will be taking place under a cloak of darkness.
Because the FEC's electronic filing system won't necessarily be available during the shutdown, the public will not be able to view the latest filings and filers will be free to ignore existing deadlines. Candidates will have until 24 hours after the government reopens to file campaign finance reports due during the shutdown. That could mean an extension for just about every candidate for federal office--there are two major filing deadlines fall this month. It also raises the possibility that some voters may not know the whole story about who's trying to influence their vote until after they go to the polls.
Reasons to Not Release Data, Part 2: Confusion
Earlier this month, we shared a crowdsourced collection of the top concerns data advocates have heard when they’ve raised an open data project with government officials at the federal, state, and local level, and we asked for you to share how you’ve responded. Dozens of you contributed to the project, sharing your thoughts on social media, our public Google doc, and even on the Open Data Stack Exchange, where 8 threads were opened to dive deeper into specific subjects.
Drawing from your input, our own experience, and existing materials from our peers at the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership and some data warriors from the UK, we’ve compiled a number of answers -- discussion points, if you will -- to help unpack and respond to some of the most commonly cited open data concerns. This mash-up of expertise is a work in progress, but we bet you’ll find it a useful conversation starter (or continuer) for your own data advocacy efforts.
Click here to see other posts in this series.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing challenges and responses from our #WhyOpenData list that correspond to different themes. Today’s theme is Confusion.
How to Actually Improve Public Access to Government Documents (Under the FOIA)
When can a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request be worth millions of dollars? When it is made by an investment company hoping to gain information about potential stock purchases (and sales). A recent Wall Street Journal article details the use of FOIA requests by investment firms. These firms make document requests to ascertain potential corporate liabilities and successes, requesting, for example, documents detailing Food and Drug Administration inspections and customer complaints about consumer products and pharmaceuticals. To be clear, what the Wall Street Journal describes appears to be perfectly legal - just another form of research conducted by companies that are doing their due diligence before making large scale investments.
But it has touched a nerve within the open government community. Open government advocates argue that the investment firms are taking advantage of the FOIA in order to gain insider information that only benefits the firm and is never shared the public at large. It raises complex questions when a public interest law is used to create private gain, even though the FOIA originally accounted for commercial requesters.
Seeing potential gains in efficiency, accountability, and fairness, FOIA reformers see stories like this one as opportunities to propose new FOIA procedures to promote public access.
Continue readingWord Cloud of Senator Cruz’s Obamacare Speech
Senator Ted Cruz's speech about Obamacare where he held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes is available for analysis using the Sunlight Foundation's Capitol Words project.
Continue readingThe Politics of the Government Shutdown – In One Chart
As the government shutdown begins, so does the blame game. Is it Republicans’ fault? Democrats’ fault? While the endless speculation keeps pundits busy, it’s important to remember that members of Congress don’t care about “the public” in the abstract. They care about the public in their district.
We say “district” because any deal to re-start the government will require agreement by both the House and the Senate. While senators, with their broader constituencies, have to worry more about voters in the center, no such pressure exists for most House members. A quick analysis finds roughly seven in eight House Republicans (86.6 percent, to be exact, or 201 of 232) won with at least 55 percent of the vote in 2012. Additionally, 140 Republicans (60.3 percent of the caucus) won with at least 60 percent of the vote. The chart below shows the distribution of seats by margin of victory. Note: most Democrats also come from safe seats.
Join us for a Free Webinar on Open Data in Local Governments
Sunlight Foundation's local policy team is excited to be teaming up today with the National League of Cities and Harvard Ash Center to host a free webinar examining open data policies in local governments and their impacts. More cities are sharing their data online to increase municipal transparency -- a movement that prompted us to update our Open Data Guidelines to reflect the advances that have been made and highlight emerging opportunities. This webinar will look at those advances and opportunities, in addition to defining what open data is and how policies can guide its release. We're pleased to announce that Oakland City Councilmember Libby Schaaf will join the discussion to provide insight on the city's experience with releasing more open data and its impacts in the community. We hope you can join us for this free webinar from 1-2 p.m. ET today. This webinar will also lay the foundation for a deep-dive session at NLC's Congress of Cities and Exposition in Seattle, Engaging Residents in Solutions: Using Data and Technology to Improve Local Government (on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 9:00 a.m.), which will feature Stephen Goldsmith of the Harvard Ash Center (and former mayor of Indianapolis), Mayor Vincent Gray of the District of Columbia, and Laurenellen McCann of the Sunlight Foundation.
Continue readingToday in #OpenGov 10/1/2013
National News
- The government is officially shut down and the closure will effect a wide range of government websites from the vital to the frivolous but fun. (Washington Post)
- The effects of the government shut down will spread all the way to K street. With Federal employees and Congressional staff stuck at home, lobbyists, already frustrated with the lack of work getting done by the 113th Congress, will have even less to influence. (POLITICO)
- The shut down might also slow down the party circuit in Washington. In the hours before the shut down numerous fundraisers were still scheduled, but now that the doors of government have been locked fundraisers and candidates are looking to push back or cancel their events. (POLITICO)
- The Federal Election Commission hasn't been able to do much work recently given the deadlock on the body, but with the shut down it will truly stop. The agency, with the exception of its politically appointed commissioners, will see all of its employees furloughed. (Public Integrity)
- The Vice President of the European Parliament spoke out against proposed reforms to lobbying transparency rules in the body. Rainer Wieland claimed that reforms could present a serious administrative burden and limit the institution's work. (EurActive)
- While Argentina does not yet have a Freedom of Information law, three civil society organizations have collaborated on a portal to post the asset disclosures of public servants and elected officials online. (Open Knowledge Blog)
- The Texas Attorney General ruled that a member of the state legislature has to release records related to her communication with the American Legislative Exchange Council. The records were sought by the Wisconsin based Center for Media and Democracy. (FOI Foundation Texas)
- Oakland , California is continuing its trek towards a citywide open data policy. The city council published a proposed policy that could get a vote as soon as October 15. (Govfresh)
How many donors will benefit if the Supreme Court allows unlimited campaign contributions?
Yesterday, my colleague Lisa Rosenberg previewed what’s at stake in the upcoming Supreme Court case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. On Oct. 8, judges will rule on the constitutionality of the overall limit on contributions to federal candidates and political parties. Currently, the limits are set at $74,600 to political committees, and $48,600 to candidates – $123,200 overall. If the court sides with the plaintiffs, those limits will be a thing of the past.
Everybody is buzzing about what will happen if the courts lift the aggregate limits. Will more donors start writing multi-million dollar checks? Will the campaign finance system flood with even more money?
What Happens to .gov in a Shutdown?
59063
