On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.736, the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (ACMRA). ACMRA would... View Article
Continue readingContinued cuts to legislative branch budget hurt transparency, accountability, and capacity.
This morning, the House Appropriations Committee's Legislative Branch Subcommittee marked up its FY 2014 funding bill, agreeing to a plan that would cut funding for Congress and legislative support agencies well below FY 2013 levels, and even beneath sequestration levels for most offices. Committee leadership claimed that cuts were necessary to "lead by example" and help get the government's "fiscal house in order," but, in reality, the cuts will likely limit accountability, access to information, and the ability of Congress and the legislative support agencies to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. The shrinking budgets could also make it more difficult for Congress to implement a number of important transparency initiatives. Specifically, the plan would continue several years of cuts to House operations and the Government Accountability Office that have diminished the capacity of both bodies.
Continue readingPublish all agency reports online – Sen. Coburn intros amendment for vote-o-rama
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) will introduce an amendment to create a publicly accessible online database containing all unclassified reports to Congress. It... View Article
Continue readingBill Would Make Agency Reports to Congress Accessible
Legislation that would require reports to Congress be made available online in one central location was recently reintroduced by Representatives... View Article
Continue readingAgency Report Transparency Bill Delayed For Technical Fixes
Markup of a bill to make agency reports to Congress transparent did not occur as planned on Thursday after the measure... View Article
Continue readingAgency Report Transparency Bill Set for Markup Tomorrow
Tomorrow the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act will get its turn in the spotlight. The legislation, which would require reports... View Article
Continue readingGrowing Support for Online Release of Agency Reports
A bill to make federal agency reports to Congress available to the public online has garnered bipartisan support in the... View Article
Continue reading“Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act” Advances to the House Floor
Legislation that would require copies of congressionally mandated reports to be published online by GPO cleared a major hurdle when... View Article
Continue readingThe “Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act” Is Gaining Traction
More representatives have indicated their support of a bill that would enhance public oversight of government through the Internet. The... View Article
Continue readingImproving Public Oversight of Government: The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
Public oversight of government could become a lot easier if legislation introduced yesterday becomes law. The “Access to Congressionally Mandated... View Article
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