Here is Monday’s look at the week’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related... View Article

Here is Thursday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News... View Article

Here is Wednesday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News... View Article

Here is Tuesday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News... View Article

Here is Monday’s look at the week’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related... View Article

Here is Friday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News... View Article

Here is Thursday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News... View Article

Here is Wednesday’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

• David Vitter introduced legislation to impose transparency measures for the special committee created by the Budget Control Act. (Huffington Post)

• Millions of federal court records were ordered to be destroyed to help the judiciary confront budget cuts. The cost of storing the documents is about $6 million annually. (iWatchNews)
• The Faster FOIA Law, previously passed in the Senate but stripped in order to pass a debt ceiling law, was reintroduced and passed in the Senate. (FAS Secrecy Blog)
• A review of the latest report from the newly created National Declassification Center shows that the government has doubled the rate at which it is releasing historical documents. (Federal Computer)
• The CIA has released information about the failed “Bay of Pigs” invasion following a FOIA request by the National Security Archive. (Global Research)

• The creation of a “Super Committee” to handle extensive budget negotiations has led to calls make the process and the committee more transparent. (Huffington Post) (Sunlight Blog)
• President Obama will start celebrating his birthday a little early this year with multiple Chicago fundraisers planned for tonight. (Washington Times)
• Law school professor Jonathan Adler presents lobbying as a principal agent problem, asking whether corporate lobbyists really represent the companies that pay their salaries. (National Review)
• Opinion: Public sector lobbying by local and state governments is on the rise and costing tax payers money. (KnoxNews)

• The Project on Government Oversight looks at a case where having someone from the private sector at the SEC may have improved enforcement. (POGO)

• The Federal Register released API tools to allow developers to access data on its website including information about rules and regulations passed by federal agencies. (Information Week)

• A county in Maryland is considering removing requirements for lobbyists to disclose their annual incomes. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Police in Utah launched a new website to collect anonymous tips online. (GovTech)
• A small village in Illinois has launched a transparency website including information on lobbyists and salaries that will try to make information available to the public before they file FOIA requests. (Orland Park Patch)

• China has promised more openness following a train crash that quickly became a national tragedy that was shrouded in mystery. (Reuters)

Here are Friday’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

• The Government Accountability and Transparency Board held its first meeting yesterday behind closed doors. (Tech President)
• A Border Patrol agent who refused overtime pay and faced pressure and punishment from his superiors told his story to the Advisory Committee on Transparency. (The Washington Post) (Advisory Committee on Transparency)
• The IRS will make a database of tax-return preparers that includes information like qualifications and unique ID numbers available to the public as soon as 2013. (Bloomberg)
• A group of House Democrats sent the White House a letter requesting President Obama consider issuing a draft executive order that was leaked in April to require government contractors to disclose political contributions. (Huffington Post)

• A federal judge ruled that documents relating to Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal must be released because of their value to historians. (Politico)

• An investigation by the Washington Times found that only few people found guilty of campaign finance violations actually spend time in prison for their crimes. (Washington Times)
• An Obama appointee to the Department of Labor resigned after an Inspector General’s report found “a pattern of conduct” that violated federal ethics laws. (Washington Post)
• Opinion: Melanie Sloan argues that the ethics process in Washington is sorely lacking enforcement capabilities. (Roll Call)

• A tech company called Firmstep launched a Web-based platform designed to help local governments launch accessible websites. (GovFresh)
• NASA launched a new open website to highlight and encourage transparency efforts within the agency. (Gov Fresh)
• After numerous websites crashed following speeches by President Obama and Speaker Boehner, members of the House are calling for an end to outside vendors hosting websites. (Roll Call)
• A new report by the Government Accountability Project declared that agencies should develop specific policies to deal with social media. (Executive Gov)
• The Department of Labor became the first federal agency to make software development kits available on its website to make its data more accessible. (US Department of Labor)

• Rahm Emanuel’s ethics reform efforts passed through the Chicago City Council after facing initial setbacks. The law will fundamentally change the way lobbyists work in the city. (Huffington Post)
• Colorado issued a new rule requiring lobbyists to disclose expenditure reports regarding campaign contributions on a biweekly basis beginning in September. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• Opinion: city council meetings should be televised and made available to the public. (Florida Times-Union)

• Posts on Chinese social media websites regarding a tragic train accident are driving outrage and calls for transparency among local citizens. (Tech President)
• A group of citizens from Iceland sent the parliamentary speaker a new constitution which was drafted by hundreds users through a popular Internet campaign. (Yahoo!)

Here are Wednesday’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Lobbying

• A former member of Congress took to the floor of the House to urge current members to vote against Boehner’s debt ceiling increase, which led some to question that violated congressional lobbying rules. (Roll Call)
• Mitt Romney held a fundraiser yesterday which included a number of K-street lobbyists. (Roll Call)
• Representative Pitts has donated the money he received from a lobbyists who allegedly violated laws relating to contributions on behalf of a foreign government. (Politics PA)

• A US District Judge denied a motion to compel the US Department of Interior to release documents responsive to a FOIA request. (Saipan Tribune)
• Opinion: The Washington Post Editorial Board urged members of the House to take up the Faster FOIA law, which unanimously passed the Senate earlier this year. (Washington Post)

• The ties between oil and gas companies and government works remain tight despite efforts by the Obama Administration. (Yahoo!)

• Open Secrets speculated about what will happen to Representative Wu’s campaign cash and lobbyists bundling for presidential candidates. (Open Secrets Blog)

• The General Services Administration became the first federal agency to transition its emails to a cloud-based system, using Google Apps for Government. (Federal Computer Week)

• The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors considered amendments to the county’s campaign finance laws to allow larger individual contributions and contributions from PACs. (LobbyComply Blog)
• A county in Delaware hired a federal lobbyist with ties to the city as county administrator. (Delaware Online)
• City officials in Sioux City, MO were outraged after the US Postal Service said that charges for its FOIA request could run as high as $831,000. (Sioux City Journal)

• The Provincial Government in British Columbia unveiled three websites dedicated to releasing government data and making information available to the public. (O’Reilly Radar)
• Opinion: An editorial applauds Vancouver Province for efforts to make data more available for public use and scrutiny. (Vancouver Sun)