National News

• Last week, the Department of Defense made headlines for lacking a functioning fax machine with which to accept FOIA requests. This week, the machine appears to have been replaced, despite initial estimates by the DoD that it would have to wait until the new fiscal year to get its FOIA process back up and running. (The Verge)
• A top FCC staffer is heading to lobbing behemoth Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Gregory Guice, who most recently led the FCC's legislative affairs shop and has been with the regulator for more than a decade, will join the number 2 lobbying firm in D.C., likely working with telecom clients like AT&T, Cox, and more. (The Hill)
• The party fundraising committees reported their most recent results last week and the results were a mixed bag. The RNC continues to out-raise the DNC by handy margins, while on the Congressional side the DCCC and DSCC pulled in more than their Republican counterparts. (POLITICO, POLITICO, Roll Call)
• It has become relatively common knowledge that President's like to reward big donors and bundlers with cushy ambasadorial gigs, but this handy map makes it clear just how wide-spread the practice is under Obama. (Public Integrity)

• Code for America Brigades have been springing up across America for some time, and now they are making the trip across the ocean. The local civic hacking program will expand internationally with groups in Ireland, Japan, and Poland. (Code for America)
• There is no shortage of parliamentary monitoring organizations in Africa as this list, complete with links and other information, makes clear. (Indigo Trust)
• Six years ago civil society groups in Palestine nearly passed an access to information law. This year they are giving it another go with a new report and push for the Palestinian Authority to institute a law. (Transparency International)

• As Mayor Michael Bloomberg runs out the clock on his time at the helm of New York troubling news is emerging about his records retention policies. The city is only planning to save emails from a small number of agencies to ward off against future litigation. No decision has been made about emails from the NYPD, FDNY, and Department of Education. (DNA Info)
• In more New York News, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed three special advisors to push forward on the state's open data initiatives. Andrew Nicklin, former R&D director at New York's IT department will lead Open NY. James Hendler, who was an advisor on data.gov, will work on the open.ny.gov platform. He will be joined by Theresa Pardo, director of the Center for Technology in Government at the University of Albany. (Tech President)

National News The MPAA is trying a new strategy to improve their often rocky relationship with the technology industry. The... View Article

National News Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced their latest report on the “most corrupt members of Congress.”... View Article

National News

• The famously dysfunctional 113th Congress has been a boon to offices on K street looking to scoop up top level Republican talent growing frustrated with life on Capitol Hill. GOP leadership offices in the House and Senate have lost numerous aides to top level lobbying jobs since the 112th Congress. (POLITICO)
• Despite the Obama White House's often contentious relationship with the press more than 20 prominent journalists have taken jobs with the administration since 2009. There is a long history of journalists revolving into politics and vice versa, but conservatives complain that the practice is more prevalent on the left. (POLITICO)
• Central Intelligence Agency contractors do their fair share of lobbying, but the giant intelligence agency doesn't have any plans to make their disclosures public. The CIA denied a FOIA request by POLITICO, claiming that it could not "confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence or records," relating to the lobbying efforts of contractors. Federal contractors are supposed to file public OMB form LLLs, but there is sketchy compliance and no system to track them. (POLITICO)

• More than 200 individuals and groups from all sectors are teaming up to promote transparency in Taiwan. The new alliance will promote open data, and has already received a positive reaction from some in government who have agreed to open more data this year. (Tech President)
• Historically in China, officials that take bribes are looked on with more scrutiny than those that offer the bribes in the first place. However, several recent cases indicate that this might be changing as high profile industry officials have been convicted on bribery charges. (The FCPA Blog)
• Following some big procurement scandals in Singapore, the nation's developer of industrial infrastructure Jurong Town Corporation is turning to data analytics in an attempt to screen for irregularities and avoid procurement fraud. (Future Gov)

• A Wisconsin State Senator is mounting a fight against an open records claim that could have a serious impact on the state's open records law. State Sen. Leah Vukmir is countersuing the Center for Media and Democracy, claiming that she can't be sued under the open records law while in office. If successful, Vukmir's suit will allow all state legislators to withhold information from public request. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

National News

• The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, set up to monitor funds distributed as part of the stimulus program launched in 2009, has received accolades for the level of transparency it broad to the massive program. The recovery program was subject to relatively minimal corruption thanks to the board's oversight and the open process. (Federal Computer Week)
• The Koch brothers are taking a new avenue to spend their fortune on political campaigns. Freedom Partners, registered as a 501(c)(6), a designation usually reserved for trade groups like the Chamber of Commerce or American Bar Association, doled out roughly $250 million to conservative groups during 2012. (National Journal)
• A conservative congressman, known for his fiery floor speeches, suggested that House Republicans could defund parts of the executive branch, particularly the Department of Justice, if the Obama administration doesn't become more forthcoming about the various scandals that the GOP is currently investigating. (Government Executive)
• The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has decided to release some previously private court opinion's that justify the government's bulk data collection efforts. The release, more specific details of which have not yet been made available, comes as a result of an ACLU lawsuit. (ars technica)

• The President of Venezuela is asking for special powers to vaccinate Venezuela’s democracy and public sector” against corruption, but real change is unlikely to happen via an executive power grad. Instead, TI suggests that changes need to be made to make all levels of government, especially the executive branch, more open and accountable. (Transparency International)
• (POLITICO)

• San Francisco elected leaders want to bring online, participatory budgeting to their citizens. Right now there's only one problem, figuring out how to actually implement an effective system. (The Verge)
• According to two investigative journalists, the NYPD is more likely to fight a FOI request than any federal agency that secrecy is expected from, including the FBI and NSA. Apparently, the NYPD has a long history of battling the scourge of Freedom of Information laws. (Tech Dirt)
• Opinion: A look back at the past four, open government fueled years, of the Bloomberg administration in New York City and wondered what the next four might look like if New Yorkers elect a mayor who isn't as interested in innovative government and technology. (Tech President)

National News

• NASA's CIO for IT, Dr. Sasi Pillay, dug into the topics of open innovation and crowdsourcing during a discussion with FedScoopTV. (FedScoop)
• In a sign of just how dirty the word has become, the American League of Lobbyists is thinking about dropping the "lobbyists" from its name. Presumably they'll come up with something better than The American League of People Who Get Paid Well to Convince Their Former Bosses to Support Their Current Bosses. (The Hill)
• A lobbyist appears to have crossed a line yesterday while trying to protect a client from Congressional pressure. Members of the House Oversight Committee, who held a hearing on agency transparency yesterday, revealed an email one of its members received from a lobbyist explicitly asking them to avoid questioning Jonathan Silver, former head of the Energy Department's loan program office. (The Hill)
• The Israel Lobby, in the form of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is planning an all out push to convince congress to go along with President Obama's plan to bomb Syria. The groups is sending 300 of its members to Capitol Hill today.  (New York Times)
• Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had trouble getting a quorum for a vote by the Senate Rules Committee that he chairs yesterday. A vote had been scheduled on President Obama's two nominees for the Federal Election Commission, but other lawmakers on the panel were presumably busy with other things like Syria. Schumer said a vote is still imminent, assuming he can round up a few of his colleagues. (Public Integrity)

• Open government information is increasingly being used to compare localities around the world on a wide range of topics, but a general lack of standardized data could make it harder to make full and robust comparisons. (Open Knowledge Blog)
• Costa Rica joined the OGP in January 2012 and took its time working out a National Action Plan, presented in April 2013. According to their national OGP coordinator their priority was strong collaboration and consultation with civil society groups. (Open Government Partnership)

• Buffalo, NY is trying to do big things with small data. City employees worked together to pull together a variety of data sources to help them identify neighborhoods that needed attention. They realized that looking at more than six months worth of data was both overwhelming and unnecessary.  (Information Week)
• Politicians in Wisconisn are attempting to restrict public access to a popular database of court records, despite heavy opposition from media groups, landlords, and the state court system itself. The site includes information about civil and criminal cases filed in the state and is accessed 3 to 5 million times per day. (NFOIC)
• Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi sure is dedicated to her campaign schedule. She asked for an execution to be delayed, because apparently she takes the part of her job description that says she has to watch prisoners be put to death very seriously,  in order to accommodate a fundraiser for her reelection campaign. (POLITICO)