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)

Access to Information

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

Ethics

• 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)

Technology

• 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)

State and Local

• 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)

International

• 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!)

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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)

Access to Information

• 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)

Revolving Door

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

Ethics

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

Technology

• 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)

State and Local

• 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)

International

• 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)

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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 events. News Roundup: Lobbying

• The National Journal reported that, contrary to a recent report by Politico, lobbying groups have been successfully gaining revenue. (The National Journal)
• The new trade deals under consideration are strong supported by multinational corporations who are lobbying Congress. (HuffPost)
• A new lawsuit challenges how the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act defines “foreign official,” and the Chamber of Commerce is lining up against broad enforcement of the law. (Washington Post)
• Opinion: A new third party must be launched to combat the money and corporate influence in government. (HuffPost)

Ethics

• Many of the members of Congress who voted to undercut OCE’s funding were previously probed in ethics investigations. (Sunlight Blog)
• Newly published reports from the inspector general at the SEC reveal evidence of unethical behavior by staff members. (POGO)
• Nancy Pelosi asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Rep. David Wu (D-OR) over allegations he had an “unwanted sexual encounter” with a woman. (Roll Call)
• Opinion: The congressional ethics process is in urgent need of reform. (The Hill)
• Opinion: Congress should enhance the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics in light of the Rep. Maxine Waters scandal. (The New York Times)

Campaign Finance

• A new ad by Citizens United promoting a film about Michelle Bauchman has stirred controversy about whether the buy is an independent expenditure, a political message, or neither. (Politico)

Technology

• IBM has released cloud-based tools for government agencies in an effort to improve government services and transparency. (GovTech)
• A new blogpost series on the Sunlight Blog evaluates congressional committee websites. (Sunlight Blog)
• Opinion: “Gov 2.0 is more about people than it is about technology.” (Gov In the Lab)

Access to Information

• Gawker is suing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for access to public records of conversations the governor allegedly had with Fox News chief Roger Ailes. (National Journal)

State and Local

• Virginia companies donate money almost exclusively to incumbent candidates’ campaigns. (Washington Post)
• South Carolina beefed up its ethics rules for lobbyist registration among other things. (The TANDD)
• Stateline released its evaluation of state Governors and how they use social media (techPresident)
• An Ohio county executive has kept his promise of open government under his purview, PolitiFact reports. (The Plain Dealer)
• Opinion: “Local municipalities should be open about money paid, benefits received through federal government.” (TC Palm)
• Opinion: Greater transparency will restore faith in Pennsylvania’s state government. (Patch)

International

• A local station in Georgia reported last week that members of Georgia’s ethics panel have made political contributions while serving on the panel; one serves as a registered lobbyist. (WSBTV)
• Egyptian bloggers acknowledged that Internet and social media were not the only tools behind the Egyptian Revolution (Yahoo!)

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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 federal government plans to close more than forty percent of its data centers by 2015. (ExecutiveGov)
• Design has played an important factor in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to enhance open government.. (GovFresh)
• One of Rep. Darrell Issa's top staffers on the House Oversight Committee maintains a “financial relationship” with a lobbying firm. (ThinkProgress)

Ethics

• The House of Representatives defeated an amendment to slash funding for the Office of Congressional Ethics, but over one hundred representatives voted for it. (Sunlight Blog)
• A former whistleblower comments on his experience and what he has learned about the nature of whistleblowers in the finance industry. (Forbes)

Campaign Finance

• The Department of Justice's case against two unregistered Pakistani agents demonstrates the presence of foreign money in our elections. (POGO)
• Opinion: Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer argues that campaign finance reform is an urgent matter that must be addressed. (Boston Review)

Lobbying

• Wall Street's seven biggest banks have spent a combined $20 million on lobbying the federal government this year. (OpenSecrets)
• Narrow issues often involve the highest amounts spent on lobbying the federal government. (Roll Call)
• Both Google and Facebook spent record amounts of money on lobbying last quarter. (Tech Crunch)
• Opinion: The airline industry's stated commitment to reducing its environmental impact has been negated by its lobbyists' fight to cripple environmental regulations. (Reuters)

Technology

• Stateline released an evaluation of how many of the nation's governors are taking advantage of social media tools. (Stateline)

State and Local

• Pennsylvania prosecutors are investigating whether a private email chain conducted through smartphones during a public meeting should have been on the public record. (techPresident)
• County officials in Martin County, Florida said that hiring a lobbyist is necessary for procuring federal funding. (Dredging Today)
• Opinion: The next mayor of San Francisco must be committed to open government. (HuffPost)
• Opinion: Ohio Gov. Kasich signing a bill to cap fines for destroying public records could keep “controversial public records in the dark.” (Sunlight Blog)
• Opinion: California's move to shut down its Recovery Act website is not good for transparency. (Clawback)

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

• The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2012, which includes amendments addressing opening CRS reports and funding for the GPO, was reported to the House on Wednesday. (THOMAS)  (We wrote about this legislation here)
• A new environmental de-regulation bill that the House passed last week bears a “striking resemblance” to model legislation authored by the conservative action group ALEC. (TPM)
• Opinion: The SEC is ineffective as a bloated, centralized bureaucracy, and should be localized and shrunk. (Forbes)

Ethics

• The House Ethics Committee has hired outside counsel to probe whether or not the committee's investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters may continue. (Roll Call $)

Campaign Finance

• Finance industry leaders represent the top corporate donors for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, as Romney continues to criticize Obama's record of financial regulation. (The Washington Post)

Lobbying

• Lobbying groups are facing a slump in revenue, which they blame on legislative gridlock. (Politico)
• The Chamber of Commerce was a top spender in the second quarter, but its lobbying efforts have not reached levels of the health care debate. (Roll Call $)
• Newly released House records shed light on how much the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spends lobbying for amendments to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. (Wall Street Journal)
• Lobbyists have slowed the implementation of financial regulations, according to our own Bill Allison. (Marketplace)
• The recent arrest of two foreign agents allegedly working for Pakistan has raised questions about how foreign influences may lobby the U.S. government. (The National Interest) Lawmakers have denied that their actions and decisions were influenced by these agents. (The New York Times)
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce attacked FINRA for being “out of touch” with the financial firms it regulates. (Thomson Reuters)
• Lobbyists and interest groups fear what the Gang of Six's proposed tax code overhaul could do for their clients and constituencies. (The Hill)

Technology

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor took comments on Quora for a question about the debt crisis; Cantor's staff said it plans to continue experimenting with the forum tool. (techPresident)
• USA.gov has organized a hackathon for citizens to engage with federal data from its new URL shortener. (Governing People)

State and Local

• Ohio watchdog groups met at the statehouse on Wednesday to advocate for greater transparency in the congressional re-districting process. (Daily Journal)

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