If ever there were an example of knee-jerk legislating, the STOCK Act may be it. A thoughtful and comprehensive bill, introduced by Rep. Slaughter, languished for years until some bad publicity made Members of Congress decide to “take action.” But in their haste to demonstrate they were responsive to the public’s outcry over allegations of congressional insider trading, Congress passed a watered down version of the bill. Furthermore, since passing the STOCK Act, Congress has twice acted to delay implementation of the bill, citing the risk of unintended consequences of the transparency measures they enacted. The hurry up and wait method of legislating leaves one to wonder what will be disclosed when the sausage making is complete.
Continue readingWhistleblower directive encourages protections
A new Presidential Policy Directive aimed at protecting whistleblowers with access to classified information marks an important step in securing the rights of government employees who try to expose waste, fraud, and abuse. The directive, issued by President Barack Obama, bans retaliation against employees for protected disclosures, though it does not extend to disclosures to Congress or the public. It sets standards that Congress has so far failed to put into law. The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act has been approved in the House but has yet to make it through the Senate, and it does not contain the intelligence-community protections outlined in the directive.
Continue readingInternational aid groups lack transparency
International aid groups represent more than $130 billion in annual cash flows, and 80 percent of the groups controlling that money fail to provide some basic information about where and how that money is used. Those are the findings of a recent report from Publish What You Fund, a group focused on a global campaign for aid transparency. Though the scores for most groups are low, the results of the 2012 report are an improvement from past years. The average score of a 41 percent transparency rating this year comes after an average score of just 34 percent in 2011.
Continue readingA look at Open Government in Macon, Georgia
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the... View Article
Continue readingInternational Declaration on Parliamentary Openness
Tomorrow morning, I'll be joining a number of other organizations in addressing a broad gathering of parliamentary officials at the World e-Parliament Conference. We'll be formally announcing the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness, a joint document prepared and drafted by the growing movement of Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations, or PMOs, operating throughout the world. This is the clearest, most broadly representative effort yet to represent global norms for legislative transparency. It's intended to create common goals and expectations for a representative branch of government that is transparent and accountable, increasingly by using new technology to represent citizens better. Sunlight is participating as both a PMO, since our advocacy, reporting, and technology are so often about political influence and substance in Congress, and also as a convener, joining with the National Democratic Institute and the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency to connect PMOs from around the globe. We created OpeningParliament.org to serve as a resource for the group and our activities, and since our kickoff meeting in May 2012 (adjacent to TransparencyCamp), the community has grown dramatically, and worked together to shape and sharpen the declaration. Over 80 organizations have now endorsed the declaration, and we're proud to be presenting it to officials from the world's Congresses, Assemblies, and Parliaments tomorrow.
Continue readingSouth Dakota forms Task Force on open Government
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the... View Article
Continue readingFilming OpenGov Champions: Liz Barry
As Sunlight’s Video production Director it is my delight to be producing an ongoing video series called OpenGov Champions, featuring... View Article
Continue readingIn Terms of Transparency, the First Step is Admitting There is a Problem
In its platform, released yesterday, the Democratic Party decrees that, “We are committed to the most open, efficient, and accountable... View Article
Continue readingStarting a Sunlight Meetup
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the... View Article
Continue readingGOP Platform Moves from Light to Dark
As the Republican nominating convention gets into full swing, there has been much discussion about the rightward shift by the... View Article
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