From venues like Johnny’s Half Shell in D.C., maritime museums or Magic Johnson’s house, lawmakers follow the money wherever it takes them. Sometimes, it’s even in their own backyard.
Continue readingUsing microdata in criminal justice
While the collection and release of individual-level microdata is hotly debated across social disciplines, microdata has greatly improved outcomes and decision-making in criminal justice programs.
Continue readingState legislatures taking aim at dark money, disclosure
Legislators in nine states are polishing bills aimed at outing the largest donors of politically active dark money operations.
Continue readingSunshine and shadows: Statehouses tackle open records laws in 2015
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 readingGrab your ear plugs: Political advertisers have buys all the way through Nov. 4
New filings in competitive Senate races — in states that did not previously share their political ad documents online — reveal which markets third party groups are targeting
Continue readingHow the FCC is expanding transparency
The Federal Communications Commission just made the cost of a Senate seat a lot easier to calculate — and it's because the agency became more transparent.
Continue readingQuestions surface over Stockman campaign contributions
On Feb. 21, of this year, campaign finance records show, a parent of a congressional staffer contributed $7,500 in $2,500 increments to the cash-strapped campaign the staffer's boss, Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas. At least, that's what is disclosed in filings from the Stockman campaign. Contacted about her large contribution to Stockman, Jane Dodd of Dover, Del. told Sunlight, "That wasn't me."
Continue readingOpenGov Voices: Bringing Senate Campaigns into the 21st Century
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone. Sunlight Foundation is not responsible for the accuracy 
of any of the information within the guest blog.
Jon Tester is the junior Senator from Montana. He and his wife, Sharla, still farm the 1,800 acres his grandparents homesteaded in 1912.
With the NSA’s secrets spilling into the news, folks around the country – including U.S. Senators – are demanding more transparency and accountability from the federal government. I fully support these calls for reform.
Transparency matters in the legislative branch, too. My fellow Senators must not neglect their own backyards. My colleagues need to hold themselves accountable to the American people and join me in lifting the veil that hides how Senators and Senate candidates report the money that funds their campaigns.
The Senate’s reporting system is stuck in the Dark Ages, and it’s hurting our democracy.
Continue readingGun legislation in states forecasts close fight in Congress
As the Senate opens debate on gun control after a last-minute bipartisan deal, a review of legislation now before state lawmakers gives a striking evidence of how difficult it will be to enact restrictions on firearms into law, even given the political momentum such measures have received following the December shooting tragedy that left 26 people -- most of them young children -- dead at the Sandy Hook elementary school at Newtown, Conn.
A review of nearly 1,500 firearms-related bills introduced in the 50 state legislatures since the beginning of the year by Sunlight reveals that the post-Newtown push for stronger ...
Continue readingWhich candidates spent the most per voter in 2012?
As we look back on the 2012 election as the most expensive in history, we will see that there were some very, very expensive races. Overall, there were 40 House and Senate races in which at least $20 was spent per eligible voter, and two races (the North Dakota and the Montana Senate races), where at least $50 was spent per eligible voter. The cocktail party tidbits are that in the Montana Senate race, campaigns and outside groups combined spent $64.41 per eligible voter; In the North Dakota Senate race, $56.17 per eligible voter. In the House, the most expensive district was FL-18, home to the controversial and losing Allen West (R). That district received $58.96 per eligible voter.
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