National News The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy is set to hold a hearing on a bill that would increase... View Article

National News

• Joe Biden, along with President Obama and plenty of other politicians, canceled some fundraisers during the shutdown. But, now that the government's up and running again it's time to party! The Vice President will appear at a high dollar fundraiser for the DCCC in Baltimore. (POLITICO)
• John Bolton, former U.N Ambassador under George W. Bush, is getting back in the foreign policy game in an unlimited way with a new super PAC. Bolton's PAC, which stems from the idea that "Americans don't care about foreign policy," will presumably support candidates that fit Bolton's right leaning neoconservative approach. (Executive Goverment)
• The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is set to mark up the DATA Act on Wednesday. The Committee will likely make some major changes that could weaken accountability standards included in the current Senate version. (Federal News Radio, Data Transparency Coalition)

• The OGP Summit last week in London provided a launching pad for a new Legislative Openness Working Group that represents a partnership between civil society, parliaments, and governments around the world. The group is anchored by the Congress of Chile and NDI. (Opening Parliament)
• Students and faculty who participate in student government at Hungarian universities receive "public service scholarships" and bonus payments for the work that they do. Details about these payments at Hungary's largest university will be available to the public for the first time thanks to a freedom of information request filed by the blog Transparent Education. (Transparency International)

• The federal government might be able to learn a few lessons from state and local governments in the wake of the recent shutdown. While the Obama Administration has embraced open data, states and municipalities have often been first movers when it comes to opening their information and taking proactive steps towards transparency. (Slate)
• An investigation, and the resulting record fine, into the practices of two California dark money groups is shedding some light onto the ways that well funded donors and groups are influencing elections across the country. The California Fair Political Practices Commission exposed some of the techniques these groups used to launder donations and hide their funding sources.  (Washington Post)

National News The website set up to track government aid given in the wake of Hurricane Sandy might not live... View Article

National News The Hill’s list of 2013’s top lobbyists includes influencers of all stripes, but not all of them are... View Article

National News The 29 lawmakers tasked with solving the most recent budget issues held their first hearing yesterday. This meeting... View Article

National News There’s a lot for the White House to like in a new study from McKinsey & Co., notably... View Article

National News

• Yesterday I noted that new legislation would allow businesses to ignore open data requirements, turns out that it's sponsor has decided not to introduce the legislation without significantly scaling it back first. (Data Transparency Coalition)
• Rumors are swirling that one of K Street's top firms is looking at a merger opportunity. Patton Boggs, the law and lobbying giant which has seen its revenues and prestige decline recently, may be in talks with Locke Lord, another large firm. (The Hill)
• A group of prominent Latino fundraisers for Obama are moving on to other priorities, namely vulnerable members of Congress that are against immigration reform. The group, the Latino Victory Fund, is planning to use as much as $20 million to target lawmakers with substantial Latino populations in their districts. (Washington Post)

• The Philippines is looking for public input on one of its key open data websites. The Transparency and Accountability Initiative for Lump Sum Funds website will begin asking citizens for feedback on how lawmakers are spending Priority Development Assistance Funds, detailed on the site. (Future Gov)
• The Open Knowledge Foundation launched its 2013 Open Data Index on the eve of this week's Open Government Partnership Summit. The Index found that many countries around the world are still struggling to provide important data to the public. (Open Knowledge Blog)

National News

• A new bill being considered in the House could allow companies to avoid filing reports to the SEC in open data formats. (fed scoop)
• The Supreme Court has been notoriously hesitant to adopt new technologies or open up their proceedings to appease transparency advocates. While state courts are beginning to embrace webcasting and other technologies the Supreme Court of the land seem unlikely to follow suit. (Washington Post)
• A few years ago, the argument that campaign finance disclosure was a threat to first amendment rights, personal safety, and liberty, was championed by only a few conservative voices. Today that same argument is being embraced almost as gospel by many prominent, right wing, members of the Republican party. (National Journal)
• The Defense Department revealed their internal "revolving door" database in response to a FOIA request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Military officer's have to request ethics rulings when they plan to leave the Pentagon for civilian employment. The department has kept a list of these rulings for the past several years. (Government Executive)

• With the OGP Summit in London set to kick off later this week a new report looks at the "influence of the Open Government Partnership on the Open Data discussions." (EPSI Platform)

• A top Humane Society official in California has a side gig walking the state's First Dog, Governor Jerry Brown's Corgi Sutter. Jennifer Fearing's influence with the political pooch may have spilled over to its owner. The legislature passed and Brown signed all six bills that Fearing lobbied on during this year's session. (Washington Times)
• President Obama acting locally with his campaigning prowess, biting in to some famous Brooklyn cheesecake during a campaign stop for Bill De Blasio, who is likely to win the race to replace Michael Bloomberg as mayor of New York.   (Washington Post)
• A new report from Justice at Stake, the National Institute on Money in State Politics, and the Brennan Center for Justice explores the gorwing role of big money in judicial elections. Judicial elections, which were often relatively sleepy affairs in years past, have been inundated by the same flood of spending and negative ads as other races in the post Citizens United world. (Roll Call)

National News A group of the most conservative members of the house reached out to some of K street’s most... View Article