NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Following a major corruption scandal donors withheld nearly $300 million in aid from the Ugandan government. The country will increase domestic borrowing in order to replace the shortfall. (TrustLaw)
• A group of government watchdogs is publicly opposing a request made by a bipartisan group of lawyers to roll back recently adopted changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics' rules and allow for public comment. (Roll Call)
• It's rare for the White House to miss an opportunity to collect data on citizens interested in its actions and last night's State of the Union was no different. The Citizens Response Tool for the 2013 State of the Union allowed citizens to comment on and share parts of the speech provided they cough up their email address. (Politico)
• Iraq is close to finalizing a lobbying contract with the Podesta Group. This will be the first time that Iraq has signed up with a lobbying firm in the post-Saddam Hussein world. (Politico)
• A major wholesaler of helium filled balloons is looking to secure its markets during a serious helium shortage by lobbying Washington. Helium and Balloons Across America has hired the Alpine Group to lobby on its behalf. (Public Integrity)
• President Obama's actions on campaign finance issues have failed to back up his strong rhetoric in the three years following his public criticism of the Supreme Court for its Citizens United decision. (NPR)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Former Representative Gabby Giffords is staffing her PAC, Americans for Responsible Solutions, with some top Democratic names. In addition to former members of her personal staff, Giffords has looked to EMILY's List, and a number of top strategists for help. (Roll Call)
• As they try to recover from the rubble of the economic collapse and their government bailout, General Motors and Chrysler are rebuilding their once-potent lobbying operations. Both have spent more than $5 million a year since 2011 to influence the government that saved them. (Politico $)
• Recently retired House Parliamentarian John Sullivan is taking a job in Google's Washington office. Sullivan, who worked in the parliamentarians office for 25 years, will serve as a policy counsel. (Politico)
• Al Jazeera America, which recently made waves by buying Al Gore's Current TV, is tuning into the lobbying game. They recently hired lobbying firm DLA Piper. (The Hill)
• A group of GPS companies, including Deere, Garmin, and Trimble, are launching the GPS Innovation Alliance this week. The group grew out of efforts to defeat wireless startup LightSquared and will lobby on a range of issues. (The Hill)
• During last night's State of the Union address, President Obama promised more transparency in the way that his administration handles counter-terrorism operations. (Huffington Post)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• President Obama had a mixed record on transparency and accountability issues during his first four years, according to a number of experts and watchdogs. The President set a high bar in the dawning days of his administration that he did not always reach. (ProPublica)
• Haiti recently held the first hackathon ever created by and for Haitians. The event drew students,  an international team of technologists, and a members of a women's group that works with survivors of gender-based violence. (Tech President)
• A government study on the Political Intelligence industry that was authorized by the STOCK Act is due out by April 4th. Some fear that the report might lead to legislation regulating the industry. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has already expressed interest in introducing a bill. (The Hill)
• The Project on Government Oversight outlines the revolving door between the SEC and industry in a new report that looks at disclosure statements filed between 2001 and 2010. During that time more than 400 former SEC employees filed nearly 2,000 statements indicating their intent to contact the SEC. (Government Executive, POGO)
• A recent report by the National Academy of Public Administration urges the GPO to "reboot" for the digital age. According to the report, the GPO needs to focus on matters critical to digital publishing including formats, metadata, authentication, cataloging, public access, and more. (Fierce Government)
• A new draft of data protection legislation being considered in Europe includes language taken directly from American and European corporations. The language was discovered by a LobbyPlag, a watchdog project that looks for connections between legislative language and proposals pushed by interest groups. (ArsTechnica)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Bangladesh is reportedly planning to take some advice from a visiting Congressional delegation that suggested hiring lobbyists to get better results in Washington. (Washington Post)
• In the wake of their 2012 election loss, Republicans are trying to learn some lessons to ensure that they put their technology and data to the best possible use in the future. (Tech President)
• This weekend's massive snow storm gave citizens in New York City a chance to try out some interesting civic technology. PlowNYC tracks salt and plowing operations throughout the city. (Tech President)
• The Tea Party has made the latest move in its budding war with Karl Rove. The Tea Party Patriots, one of the most prominent groups, launched a new super PAC to target "'big spending' politicians of both parties". (Politico)
• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is planning new legislation to target bad-actor contractors. According to Issa, agencies are not adequately suspending and debarring contractors who are known for unethical and wasteful behavior.(Government Executive)
• The International Anti-Corruption Academy is offering a new Master's program in Anti-Corruption Studies. The degree is aimed at professionals working in corporate compliance, internal oversight, law enforcement, investigative journalism, and more. (Wall Street Journal)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Lobbying revenues have been down for the past two years after a decade of steady growth. However, the changing nature of the influence industry has special interests relying more on public relations, grassroots organizing, mass media, and the internet. All told, influence spending up. (Washington Post)
• A group of anonymous donors in Germany are using a novel technique to promote their favored candidate. PeerBlog.de is funded by a shadowy group of businessmen and will produce content promoting the candidacy of Peer Steinbruck, a Social Democrat running to be chancellor.  (Tech President)
• The State of the Union address is the Super Bowl of politics and many lobbyists work hard to get their products mentioned. Although, just like at the super bowl, a high profile commercial can back fire. Some lobbyists to advise their clients to try to avoid being mentioned in the speech in order to maintain support among the minority.(Roll Call)
• Karl Rove's new dark money group's goal is simple. The Conservative Victory Project is hoping to fend off unelectable candidates who thrive in conservative dominated primaries only to wither and die come general election time. One potential target, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is already using Rove's specter to raise money from his conservative base.  (Politico, Politico)
• Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has been a vocal supporter of greater transparency in US Drone policy, pushed for more declassification in advance of the start of nomination hearings for John Brennan, who President Obama has tapped to be the next head of the CIA. (Politico)
• A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to make it easier for FCC commissioners to meet in secret. Currently, three or more commissioners cannot speak to each other in private, even if they are not taking any agency action. (The Hill)

• H.R. 539. The FCC Collaboration Act. To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a bipartisan majority of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to hold nonpublic collaborative discussions, and for other purposes.

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Bipartisan leaders on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are pushing for information about the Obama administration's FOIA record. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sent a letter to the justice department seeking answers on detailed questions about deficiencies in the administration's responses to FOIA requests. (Washington Times)
• Governor Rick Scott (R-FL), is facing a tough reelection campaign featuring low personal popularity and the potential that former Governor, and party swapper, Charlie Christ will be his Democratic opponent. He is planning to spend at least $100 million, including funding a data and analytics push. (Politico)
• New Jersey Governor is coming to DC at the end of the month for a major fundraiser at the home of BGR Group Chairman Ed Rogers, one of America's top lobbyists. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will serve as honorary host of the fundraiser. (Public Integrity)
• Palo Alto, California takes their technology, and their open data, seriously. Their open data efforts cover a wide variety of data sets and are released in user friendly and usable ways. (Govfresh)
• The US Geological Survey has a new tool to detect major seismic events: Twitter. The USGS' Twitter Earthquake Dispatch is capable of detecting large events faster than sophisticated seismometers. (Federal Computer Week)
• The White House is now taking applications for the second round of its Presidential Innovation Fellows program. The first round of fellows has worked on projects to improve contract bidding and help veterans and others easily download health information. (Fierce Government)
• Despite promises to lead the most transparent administration in history, and early moves to release Justice Department legal opinions from the Bush administration, President Obama has been tight lipped when it comes to opinions on assassination and "targeted killings" produced by his own DOJ. (New York Times)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• A new report from the Georgia Public Interest Research Group Education Fund analyzed spending transparency in thirty of America's largest cities. Chicago and New York came out on top, while Cleveland scored the worst. (Common Cause)
• The White House is working on an update to its online petition platform "We the People." The new version will be based on an API that will be released publicly, allowing anyone to access data on petitions, signatures, and responses. (fedscoop)
• The top Republican and Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs sent letters to President Obama and newly minted Secretary of State John Kerry urging them to nominate an Inspector General for the State Department. The agency has been without a permanent IG for more than five years. (Washington Times)
• A wide range of groups are lobbying on the immigration reform talks currently bubbling on the Hill. The technology, agriculture, and hospitality industries, as well as gay and lesbian groups are working to see their wishes fulfilled in any legislation that might emerge. (The Hill)
• Despite disappointing results for their favored candidates in the 2012 election, the American Petroleum Institute isn't hesitating to continue aggressively pushing their agenda. The well funded trade group is targeting multiple Democratic Senators up for reelection in 2014 and is aiming to build public support for its positions from the ground up. (Roll Call)
• Opinion: A proposed SEC rule requiring corporations to disclose their use of corporate funds for political purposes enjoys widespread support and would "help...distinguish between companies that compete and win through superior products...and those...that merely appear to do so due to superior access to lawmakers." (Politico)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Federal Communications Commission is looking to streamline the process inventors go through when testing their products on the airwaves. (Politico)
• The Office of Management and Budget is proposing consolidating federal guidance on grants and financial assistance payments. The move is aimed at reducing paperwork and fraud. (GovExec)
• President Obama is not the first person in his line of work to create a lobbying group that seeks to influence national policy. Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have gone down - or at least tried to travel - similar paths. (Politico)
• 2014 is on the minds of some of the biggest Republican Party donors, who are funding a group to protect incumbents and find new candidates for the upcoming U.S. Senate races. (New York Times)
• Changes to the U.S. Senate lobbying database over the weekend appear to have broken outside links to the documents, impacting watchdog groups like OpenSecrets.org. A staffer said the changes were made so documents would be available in HTML instead of PDF. (Public Integrity)
• Legislators in Missouri are looking to pass a bill that would require more advance notice of public meetings and increase the likelihood of facing penalties for violating the state's open meetings and records law. (News Tribune)
• Legislative aides in Virginia will receive the same privacy protections under the state's Freedom of Information Act as legislators under a new bill. (Watchdog.org)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Lobbying revenues have declined for the past two years along with the total number of registered lobbyists. These numbers might make it seem like K Street is slowing down, but unregistered lobbyists are keeping the influence world alive. (Roll Call)
• The administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy called for better data about government purchases at a recent panel discussion. (GovExec)
• Big donors are sometimes looking to buy their way to a diplomatic post. A new paper looks at how much money it takes to be appointed to certain positions. (New York Times)
• President Obama's campaign group continued to receive millions of dollars in contributions after the election, according to recent campaign finance disclosures. (Roll Call)
• NASA has launched a second International Space Apps Challenge encouraging developers to contribute code to the space agency's projects. (O'Reilly Radar)
• Texas has approved letting people make campaign donations through text messages, making it the third state to approve such an option. (Roll Call)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• President Obama's decision to turn his campaign into a nonprofit that will accept unlimited corporate cash has drawn some criticism across the political spectrum. ProPublica looked into some of the other money-policy flip-flops Obama has made in the past few years. (ProPublica)
• The House Small Business Committee is aiming to make it easier for companies without lawyers or lobbyists to keep track of federal regulations that might impact them. (Roll Call)
• The Justice Department filed a brief asking the Supreme Court not to allow direct corporate campaign contributions. (Thomson Reuters)
• States and municipalities are increasingly creating positions for chief innovation officers, who are tasked with a wide variety of efforts related to better uses of technology. (GovTech)
• Government use of open source software as an alternative to proprietary software is increasing, and Government Technology explored some of the benefits and challenges of that move. (GovTech)
• Liberal and conservative groups are expressing concerns about the possible effects of proposed ethics reforms in Georgia that would label citizen volunteers as lobbyists, among other things. (Public Integrity)
• A bill has been introduced in Rhode Island that would prohibit lobbyists from making any political contributions to a member of the General Assembly during legislative session. (Lobby Comply Blog)
• A recent poll in Europe found a majority of people surveyed are concerned about the role of lobbyists and want increased transparency in the European Union. (Access Info)
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