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Tag Archive: opengov2day

2Day in #OpenGov 1/22/2013

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged President Obama to enforce enhanced whistleblower protections that were included in the recent defense authorization bill. The President spoke critically of the provisions while signing the larger bill into law. (Federal Computer Week)
  • The 2012-2013 flu season has reached epidemic levels in the US, leading public health and local government officials to embrace new technologies to spread information and help citizens connect to health care. (GovFresh)
  • The Center for Technology in Government is looking at considerations that government's should take before releasing data to the public. A paper on the issue, The Dynamics of Opening Government Data, evaluates open data releases from New York City and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Government Technology)
  • Now that Obama for America is being converted into a 501(c)4 advocacy group many questions are being raised about the future of the group and its ability to focus primarily on politics. 501(c)4's are not supposed to have electoral politics as their main focus, but can run "issue ads". (NPR)
  • Government watchdogs have found much to be disappointed with after President Obama promised to lead the most transparent administration in history. His record on ethics, campaign finance, and transparency looks decidedly mixed. (Roll Call)
  • While few observers expect sweeping changes in the way that the Obama administration handles K street in its second term, many expect it to become easier for lobbyists to obtain waivers to work in the White House. (Roll Call)

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2Day in #OpenGov 1/17/2013

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • The still nascent Slovenian Pirate Party, founded with a focus on digital issues, may have an opportunity to compete sooner than they expected. Protests against austerity measures and rampant political corruption have swept the nation, leading some to call for new elections. (Tech President)
  • The Vietnamese government admitted to supporting up to 1,000 bloggers and "online tastemakers" to work as propaganda agents and push Communist policies online. The country, with a poor record of freedom of expression, has seen internet use explode over the past decade.  (Tech President)
  • After a month of silence from its K Street representatives, the NRA has started sending in its lobbying muscle to fight President Obama's gun control proposals. They'll be armed with a new argument; guns create jobs. (Politico)
  • Did you download the app created for President Obama's second inauguration? You might want to check out the terms of service, which apparently gives the Presidential Inaugural Committee permission to share data with a variety of political organizations. (Politico)
  • The gun control law passed in New York this week appears to limit access to previously public information about gun permits, giving gun owners the option to remove their names from a statewide database. (New York Times)
  • State revolving door laws vary widely across the country and at least 15 have no laws that would stop a legislator from resigning on Monday and registering as a lobbyist on Tuesday. (Public Integrity)
  • The White House quadrupled the threshold for a petition filed via its We The People website to get an official answer. New petitions will have to get 100,000 signatures in 30 days to be acknowledged by the White House. (The Hill)

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2Day in #OpenGov 1/16/2012

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • US CIO Steven VanRoekel announced that the Digital Government Strategy is starting to lead to economic benefits, with numerous companies being formed thanks to the federal data that is being released as part of the plan.(FedScoop)
  • The numerous fiscal conflicts likely to take place during the nascent days of the 113th Congress bode well for the lobbying industry. A wide range of sectors will be looking to their lobbyists to get good deals out of the upcoming debates.(Roll Call)
  • Republicans and Democrats hold yearly retreats outside of Washington to formulate policy and build relationships. How they pay for these retreats says a lot about their political differences, with the GOP turning to wealthy corporate donors and the Democrats relying on taxpayer money. (National Journal)
  • Philadelphia's leaders reiterated their commitment to using innovative technology to engage their citizens by naming the city's first Director of Civic Technology. Tim Wisniewski, who previously worked on Philadelphia's 311 system, will focus on creating lasting applications and helping city departments meet their goals. (Gov Tech)
  • The Justice Department is recommending that the U.S. join a federal whistleblower lawsuit originally filed by Lance Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis.(Wall Street Journal)
  • A Virginia Delegate proposed a law that would add the correspondence and working papers of state legislative aids to a list of items exempt from the state FOIA. The bill has received sharp criticism from local transparency advocates. (Watchdog.org)

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2Day in #OpenGov 1/14/2013

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • The Office of Congressional Ethics was reauthorized in the House rules package for the 113th congress. Watchdog groups had feared that the, sometimes controversial, agency might be hamstrung. (National Journal $)
  • Rhode Island is launching a new government information portal that will provide access to government financial data including contracts, audits, and financial documents. The portal will also allow users to file public records requests. (Public Integrity)
  • Last week, President Obama signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act, which establishes the Do Not Pay Initiative. The law is aimed at minimizing improper payments.(Federal Computer Week)
  • Denmark is launching a database to make corporate tax records available to the public. The database will include figures for the past year of corporate taxation, including information on which companies did not pay taxes.(Tech President)
  • New York Governor is planning to implement a statewide open data portal, making good on a campaign promise to focus on transparency. The portal will post budget data in machine readable and graphical formats. (Tech President)
  • The National Institutes of Health hired a chief data officer to lead a strategic initiative aimed at making the most out of biomedical research data. (Federal Computer Week)
  • Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) introduced several measures dealing with campaign finance reform in the first week of the 113th Congress. The bills include 3 proposed constitutional amendments and an effort to require broadcasters to provide free air time for political ads. (Lobby Comply)

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2Day in #OpenGov 1/11/2013

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • Open Government leaders are meeting in Chile this week to discuss Latin American plans and adding Argentina to the Open Government Partnership. The OGP also released a variety of statistics on its first 16 months. (GovFresh)
  • The Chamber of Commerce, one of the countries most powerful lobbying forces, is gearing up to fight against recent policy changes through the legal arena as well, by hiring more lawyers and preparing to attach the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank financial regulation law with lawsuits. (National Journal)
  • Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum is publicly opposing Chuck Hagel, his former colleague in the Senate. Santorum announced that he is planning to run ads against Hagel's nomination to serve as Secretary of Defense. (Politico $)
  • Former Representative Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly launched a super PAC, Americans for Responsible Solutions, that hopes for raise $20 million by the 2014 elections to provide a counterweight to the NRA. (Politico)
  • A growing number of Mexican Twitter users are using the service to provide real time coverage of violent crime that has emerged as an alternative to traditional news media outlets that sometimes fail to adequately cover the country's devastating drug war. (Tech President)
  • Several Democratic lawmakers have released emails that indicate high ranking Wal-Mart officials were aware in 2005 that the retailer was paying bribes in Mexico. Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) are investigating Wal-Mart's Mexico division for bribery. (Washington Times)

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2Day in #OpenGov 1/7/2012

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

  • Bringing back Congressional earmarks may help ease some of the gridlock and disfunction in Washington, according to this NPR piece on the history and current state of the practice. (NPR)
  • The National Music Publisher's Association is losing its vice president of government affairs, Allison Halataei, to the Revolving door. Halatei will be joining the House Judiciary Committee as its general counsel and parliamentarian. (The Hill)
  • With several high profile gubenatorial contests scheduled for 2013 outside money is expected to continue to flood American elections. Some of the major outside groups are considering turning their checkbooks to these state races and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has already seen millions of dollars of outside support. (Politico)
  • Meanwhile, state officials from around the country are fighting dark money groups with court battles and new legislation to force political spending disclosure. (Roll Call)
  • The FEC fined President Obama's 2008 campaign $375,000 for reporting violations following an audit. The fine is one of the largest ever levied against a presidential campaign. (Politico)
  • Rep. Chris Van Hollen reintroduced the DISCLOSE Act in the House last week. The bill, identical to the one that failed to pass in the 112th Congress, has yet to be reintroduced in the Senate. (Roll Call)

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2Day in #OpenGov 1/4/2013

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NEWS ROUNDUP:

Government 
  • Nearly 100 ethics cases in 2012: The House Ethics Committee reviewed 95 cases in 2012 and handled at least 40,000 informal requests for guidance, among other tasks. (Roll Call)
  • DC legislation receives bump in Congress: District of Columbia affairs will receive review from the full Oversight and Government Reform Committee instead of just a subcommittee. (Roll Call)
  • Obama opposes more whistleblower protections: President Barack Obama issued a statement saying he objects to expanded contractor whistleblower protections. (FCW)
  • Google settles with FTC in antitrust case: The Federal Trade Commission decided to take no action on the biggest part of a potential antitrust case against Google after the search-engine giant agreed to change some of its practices. (The Hill)  

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