by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- Sen. Rob Portman's (R-Oh.) push for a separate vote on his E-Verify amendment on the immigration bill, which seeks to prevent worker identity fraud, highlights the number of negotiations the Gang of Eight has made privately in an effort to secure as many votes as possible in the Senate this week. (POLITICO)
- Meanwhile, small business lobbyists are also raising their concerns about provisions in the immigration bill. The National Federation of Independent Business's concerns center on the creation of a Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research, which would be funded by the fees it collected and thus have relative independence from Congressional oversight. (Washington Post)
- A group of Austrian students filed legal complaints to various European data protection agencies. The complains could evolve into the first legal case examining the release of non-American data to the US government under EU data protection laws. (Ars Technica) Continue reading
2Day in #OpenGov 6/25/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- The GSA is moving to "zero-based budgeting" : each division starts as if they had zero dollars and then must justify each budget request they make against the GSA's top level goals. CIO Casey Coleman hopes the policy will generate more consistent data, increase transparency, and reduce wasted effort and money. (FedScoop)
- On the morning of the Bay State's special election, a roundup of the two candidates' campaign finances: Markey leads 76-1 in energy money. Looking at funding overall is not quite as large of a blowout, though Markey has been working with millions more than Gomez. (POLITICO)
- A top aide from John Boehner's office is leaving to run the DC office of American Express. Brett Loper, Boehner's former deputy chief of staff, is the third high-ranking staff member to leave in recent months, fueling speculation that Boehner's time in Congress is drawing to a close. (The Hill)
- A slate of legislation up for consideration in Ohio's General Assembly would curtail transparency in the state. One bill would close meetings about misconduct by fiscal officers; another would allow public bodies to privately meet on economic development issues. (The Plain Dealer)
- Founders of the pro-Hillary super PACs hope that their early proliferation will discourage other candidates from entering the field, even before Clinton has announced her own candidacy. (Washington Post)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/24/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- Obama announced on Friday that he was nominating Lee Goodman and Ann Ravel to the FEC, signaling the end of an outspoken commissioner's tenure. Donald McGahn, who frequently opposed campaign finance reform and blocked rules to limit the sources and amount of money in federal campaigns, will step down upon Senate confirmation of Goodman. (National Journal)
- Meanwhile, the FCC is hobbled by ongoing vacancies and the lack of an appointed leader, even as it tries to sort out critical policy issues like expanding the wireless spectrum available for commercial use. The weeks-long holdup could last until the Senate Republicans issue their recommendation for a GOP candidate. (POLITICO)
- Comparing the 2012 FOIA report to previous years reveals that last year saw more requests denied due to privacy than any year since 2002. The number of FOIA requests, which had plummeted during Bush's 2nd term, is steadily increasing again. (Investigative Reporting Workshop)
- The Chamber of Commerce released an ad advocating for the immigration reform bill, featuring clips from Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Paul Ryan, though Paul announced on Sunday that he is planning to vote against the Senate bill. (Washington Post)
- Financial experts are keeping an eye on the Supreme Court in the midst of its busy final week, waiting to see how its DOMA ruling will affect the financial status of same-sex couples. One issue at stake is the disclosure of assets during campaigns, as Sean Eldridge's campaign highlighted last week. (POLITICO)
- With less than 100 days until the official launch of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration seeks to integrate a constellation of federal and state agencies projects and ready them for public use starting October 1st. (Washington Post)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/21/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS: The libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute held its annual fundraising dinner with Rand Paul as... View Article
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 6/20/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS:
- The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs may be neck and neck for the NBA championship, but in the political arena, it's a blowout. Spurs owner Peter Holt donated $500,000 during the 2012 election cycle, the vast majority going to Republicans. That's four times as much as Heat owner Mickey Arison, who split his money between the Dems and the GOP. (Public Integrity)
- Last year, Rhode Island's General Assembly overhauled their Access to Public Records Act to open up new records, but now state agencies are releasing less information than in years past. The trouble is because of the "balancing test", which asks that officials consider whether the information is a unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Police clerks across the state are redacting information about incidents, even in arrest records, which have long been public. (Providence Journal)
- Lobbying coalitions are on the rise: these groups bring together competing companies to focus in on a specific issue, becoming a vital source of information for Congressional staff, before disbanding as soon as the legislation runs its course. (The Hill)
- Associated Press President Gary Pruitt blasted the DoJ's seizure of the AP's phone records, saying their long-standing sources have clammed up. The AP seeks DoJ acknowledgement of the right of the press to get advance notice in subpoenas of records, a federal shield law, and to formally institutionalize that no journalist will be prosecuted for doing his job. (POLITICO)
- A new spending-data directive from the OMB mirrors the DATA Act that Congress is considering. Like the DATA Act, the OMB's directive requires agencies to establish unique identification numbers for financial awards, though the directive is weak in that it doesn't track awards across agencies and doesn't apply to procurement. (FCW)
- The powerful potato lobby is pushing for an amendment to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The USDA originally ruled that monthly WIC stipends could not be used to purchase white potatoes. A spokesperson for the National Potato Council, which wants to reverse that ruling, claims it's not a matter of money, but rather of correcting public misperceptions about the potato's nutritive value. (NPR)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/19/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- Tom Wheeler, Obama's nominee to lead the Federal Communications Commission, cited his experience in leading lobbying groups of cable television and cell phone groups for shaping his opinions and preparing him for the job. (New York Times)
- The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board meets today to discuss NSA surveillance for the first time. The board's five appointees only recently received security clearances, and the group is virtually untested, maintaining a low profile for much of its eight years of existence.(Yahoo)
- Labor unions see the Snowden-induced scrutiny on contractors as a chance to fight proposals for increased federal contracting. At the height of the Bush administration, there were over 7 million federal contractors, with only a third as many executive branch employees. (POLITICO)
- Early filings for May show strong activity for PACs, with Democratic PAC ActBlue raising $5 million, on par with the DNC and NRCC, and other early filers such as American Crystal Sugar Company PAC and AT&T Inc. Federal PAC giving hundreds of thousands to members of Congress. (Roll Call)
- Texas became the first state to require a warrant for e-mail searches - the current federal law only stipulates that a warrant is necessary for recent emails the recipient has not yet opened. (Ars Technica)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/17/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- The Scripps Howard News Service team discovered online PDFs of complete applications for TerraCom, a provider of federally subsidized phone service, and downloaded tens of thousands of them using a web scraper. TerraCom is accusing the Scripps reporters of being hackers and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; Scripps argues that the information was publicly accessible online. (Columbia Journalism Review)
- NY investor Sean Eldridge is running for Congress - and his campaign reveals a wrinkle in current personal finance disclosure requirements. He's married to Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes, who's worth $450 million, but because DOMA prevents federal law from recognizing same-sex marriages, Eldridge's report left out mention of his husband's Facebook fortune. (Huffington Post)
- Debates about White House involvement aside, the IRS scandal shines light on the varying status of nonprofit organizations, depending on who you ask. While federal law doesn't allow 501(c)(4)s to be politically active, the IRS merely requires that they not be primarily political - and no one seems clear on what exactly constitutes "political activity." (POLITICO)
- NC currently provides judicial candidates with taxpayer money to run their campaigns, but the pioneering program may soon disappear thanks to Art Pope, a conservative mega-donor. The Republican-proposed budget initially cut the program, but Republican Representative Jonathan Jordan introduced an amendment to preserve a less-extensive version. However, when Jordan had a visit from Pope, one of his big donors, he quietly dropped the amendment. (Mother Jones)
- As the White House released its slate of new ambassadors, some of Obama's top donors head the list, including HBO executive James Costos to Spain; 2012 fundraising director Rufus Gifford to Denmark; and Capitol Group executive John Emerson to Germany. (Washington Post)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/14/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- Elizabeth Warren penned a letter yesterday about US negotiations with Pacific nations to forge a new trade agreement, urging them to release details to citizens about what the parties are considering for "more robust public transparency". (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
- Though environmental groups don't have an easy time pushing reform in Congress, a strategy that's working for them is the so-called "sue and settle" method: they sue the like-minded EPA, which then settles by issuing regulations. While the tactic has been around for decades, critics see this as a sign of burgeoning executive power. (Government Executive)
- The personal finance reports of top federal officials were released to the public today. The majority of the Supreme Court Justices are millionaires, some with large stock holdings. (Public Integrity) The reports for the House are also available as of today. (Roll Call)
- In the continuing investigation of one DC firm's political contributions, former employee Lee Calhoun was charged yesterday for helping his boss, Jeffrey Thompson, hide the extent of his campaign contributions. Records show that 13 employees of the firm each wrote checks for $2,300 on the same day in 2011 - following allegations linking Thompson to a $630,000 mayoral shadow campaign and bribery of DC council members. (Washington Post)
- San Francisco recently appointed Marc Touitou its new CIO. Touitou enters with an ambitious agenda, including instituting an IT project management office and racing NYC to be the first to provide citywide wifi. (Government Technology)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/13/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- President Obama named Keith Harper, who netted record donations from Native American tribes for the 2012 campaign, the new U.S. representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council. (Washington Post)
- Continuing the trend of top Obama staffers leaving for lucrative new careers: the former White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, and assistant White House press secretary, Ben LaBolt, have started a new communications company under New Partners Consulting, the Democratic consulting shop. (Huffington Post)
- Though state judicial races used to be relatively low-key, they are increasingly influenced by political ads - many of them paid for by national political groups located outside of the state. (Public Integrity)
- Sick of news like this? You might be sympathetic to a provocative new ad to take money out of politics. Fair warning: NSFW - or indeed, your eyes. (Roll Call)
- A Florida television station uncovered the intersection of money, technology, policy, and safety in traffic lights, of all things. The Florida Department of Transportation shortened the length of yellow lights, collecting more in traffic fines, but also increasing the likelihood of dangerous accidents. (TechPresident)
2Day in #OpenGov 6/12/2013
by Carrie Tian, policy intern
NEWS:
- President Obama campaigns in Massachusetts today to support Rep. Markey's Senatorial bid, the latest in a string of high-profile campaigners including Joe Biden, Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and Michelle Obama. A leading Republican speculates that the Dems are pulling out the big guns out of desperation, or else they wouldn't be squandering the time of these officials. (The Hill)
- Meanwhile, campaign trackers note the absence of activity by major Republican super PACS in the Massachusetts special election. Gabriel Gomez is being outspent by Markey at a pace of 3 to 1, a marked contrast from when conservative ads flooded the state for the 2010 and 2012 Senatorial elections (Roll Call)
- Mayor Bloomberg sends a letter today urging hundreds of New York's biggest liberal donors not to contribute to the four Democratic Senators who opposed the April bill to strengthen background checks on gun buyers. Those four Senators have raised a combined $2.2 million from New York, so Bloomberg's letter could inadvertently strengthen the Senate's Republican majority. (New York Times)
- Though government innovation challenges succeed at getting entrepreneurs
interested in state issues, their impact is often fleeting. A survey of apps that won competitions in Kenya found that most had stopped being developed shortly after those competitions concluded. (Tech President) - The DOE flagged $450,000 in payments to the contracting company controlled by former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson. Inspections showed that the payments failed to provide the mandated information on the scope and nature of the work performed. (POLITICO)
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