The 2016 state legislative sessions have already witnessed a host of important actions, with legislators across the country considering measures to increase and decrease governmental transparency.
Continue readingTea Party challenger trounced in last minute fundraising
The GOP establishment is doubling down on its effort to beat the Tea Party in a special election today, last-minute filings on Sunlight's Real-Time FEC tracker show.
Continue readingBusiness groups back establishment pick over Tea Party candidate in AL special
In the Alabama special election clash between Tea Party and establishment Republican candidates, the US Chamber of Commerce is putting its money where its mouth is. The business group -- and political juggernaut -- made waves when it announced it would support longtime state legislator Bradley Byrne over Tea Party-favorite Dean Young. The financial reports from the Byrne campaign show just how much the financial backing of major special interest groups like the U.S. Chamber can tilt the playing field in one candidate's favor.
Continue readingOpenGov Voices: You are invited to TransparencyCamp Alabama 2013!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Sunlight Foundation or any employee thereof. Sunlight Foundation 
is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information within the guest blog.
Jackson Stephen is the founder of OpenBama -- a nonpartisan website that compiles data from various sources pertaining to Alabama State government into an easy to use tool. OpenBama desires to inspire the citizens of Alabama to demand more transparency within state and local government. Jackson is also organizing the first TransparencyCamp in Alabama. He can be reached at jackson.stephen.r@gmail.com.
Around 2008 I began the work on what would become OpenBama.org. At the time I started the project, I had never heard of the Sunlight Foundation, open government, or any of the wonderful transparency projects across the country. I was one guy with a computer and an idea to make Alabama legislative data meaningful to the citizens of my state. Little did I know that there was an entire community of individuals working on similar transparency projects across the country, individuals like myself that desired to take government information to the people.
Continue readingStates Lead on E-Filing, Will the Senate Catch Up?
It seems our Senators have a thing or two learn from their home states when it comes to campaign finance reporting: 31 states currently require mandatory electronic reporting ("e-filing") of their elected representative's campaign finance records -- a leap above our Senate, which has failed to pass no-brainer e-filing legislation for over a decade. Sunlight conducted a review of the current state of similar filings in the states (see chart below), and the results are pretty surprising -- in a great way. State governments across the country -- 92% of them, in fact -- require at least optional, if not mandatory electronic filing for both houses of their bicameral legislatures.
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Continue readingLocal Sunlight 4/30/09
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This week I have highlights from Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Oregon.
Continue readingLocal Sunlight
This week I have highlights from
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