The DATA Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent this afternoon, moving it one step closer to the President's desk.
Continue readingBig step for public access to legislation
The House Appropriations Committee made a major move towards improving public access to information, announcing new, machine-readable bulk data on legislation will be available soon.
Continue readingContinuing Oxfam’s conversation on the limits of transparency
Oxfam's discussion of the limits of transparency resonates strongly with the weaknesses of the McCutcheon decision.
Continue readingWhat the feds can learn from state and local e-filing
We already know the federal government has plenty of room for improvement in how it collects information. What about states and municipalities? We wondered whether local governments are doing any better with allowing for electronic filing of information.
Continue readingLack of transparency likely to tarnish Hungarian election
A lack of transparency in Hungary could tarnish the April 6 parliamentary elections — but a new website tracking shady campaign spending aims to change that.
Continue readingNo Justice Roberts, the Internet can’t do government’s job
Chief Justice John Roberts thinks the Internet can save democracy from big money. As some of the Internet's most devoted users, we disagree.
Continue readingHow bad is disclosure at the FEC? Worse than Justice Roberts thinks
Justifying the McCutcheon decision on the basis of healthy disclosure is reckless when it is well known that the government isn't demanding it or providing it in a useful way.
Continue readingReal time transparency bill a real time response to McCutcheon
Sen. Angus King responded quickly to the Supreme Court’s decision in McCutcheon v. FEC today, announcing the Real Time Transparency Act of 2014, requiring 48-hour disclosure of hard money campaign contributions of $1,000 or more.
Continue readingSunlight’s Response to SCOTUS Ruling on McCutcheon v FEC
Today, the Supreme Court handed down its decision on the campaign finance case, McCutcheon v. the Federal Election Commission, ruling that aggregate limits over direct contributions to political candidates are unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
Continue readingThe state of state and local campaign finance: D.C. primary edition
While not yet perfect, D.C.’s campaign finance website has a number of features that allow reporters and other researchers to access many aspects of campaign finance data in bulk form.
Continue reading
59063
