By Daniel Schuman and Alisha Green One of the foundations of democracy is a legislature that functions well. The ability to assess whether a legislature is functioning properly depends on the public's ability to see what it is doing. Observing what the U.S. Senate is doing, unfortunately, is a difficult task, and one that is unnecessarily hard. Have special interests become increasingly powerful in the Senate because the upper chamber has diminished its capacity to legislate? To evaluate this question, we gathered data about congressional staff numbers, pay, and retention from a number of difficult-to-access (and often non-public) sources. While the U.S. Senate is often seen as the wiser and more seasoned counterpart to the House, we believe it is suffering from the same affliction that has robbed the lower chamber of some of its ability to engage in reasoned decision making, placing it at the mercy of special interests. Over the past thirty years, the Senate weakened its institutional knowledge base and diminished its capacity to understand current events through a dramatic reduction of one of its most valuable resources: experienced staff.
Continue readingTools for Transparency: A Crowdmap for Open Government
Crowdmap is the hosted version of the Ushahidi platform, which allows you to quickly crowdsource information to a map in real time. Crowdmap has typically been used to monitor elections in developing countries, map crisis information as an event unfolds or to curate local resources.
Two examples include Syria Tracker which tracks the missing, arrested or killed in Syria while Vacant NYC keeps tabs on vacant properties in and around New York City.
We've been using the service for the past few months to curate Sunlight Meetups and open government events taking place around the United States. You can see the latest events on our Participate page.
2Day in #OpenGov 11/29/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Lawmakers duel over music royalties: A House Judiciary Committee hearing made it clear lawmakers have different ideas about what kind of reform should happen with royalties music-streaming websites pay recording companies and artists. They did agree, however, that royalty fees should be paid for songs played on traditional radio stations. (The Hill)
- Issa considers two-year ban on Internet regulations: U.S. Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) is asking for input on a bill that would place a two-year ban on any new Internet regulations, with an exception for national security emergencies. (The Hill)
- Report finds Reyes probably misused funds: A House Ethics Committee report found reason to believe U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) violated campaign finance rules or law by having campaign events on House property, among other things. (Roll Call)
2Day in #OpenGov 11/28/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Earmarks ban appears set to stick in House and Senate: It looks like the ban on earmarks will continue in the House and Senate. House and Senate Republicans have approved the bans, and Senate Democrats may follow that lead. (Roll Call)
- GSA launches dashboard: The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a dashboard that will share more information on federal IT spending. (Federal Times)
- Obama signs extended whistleblower protections: President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that extends whistleblower protections to more federal workers, including those in the TSA. (Government Executive)
“Fiscal Cliff” Casts Shadow of Secrecy
Just like the debt limit negotiations and Supercommittee process that helped cause it, the so-called "fiscal cliff" of expiring laws is creating another round of secretive negotiations among our political leaders. The heads of both parties now thrive on stories of impending fiscal consequences, even when they're of their own making.
To cope with a polarized electorate, our leaders have figured out a way to create an apparent impending disaster that is unpalatable regardless of one's ideology. Whatever the outcome of their fight with each other, they've created a dystopian future against which they can be made to look like heroes warding off impending doom with their brave bipartisanship.
It doesn't really matter which party started it (both of them) or whether this was avoidable (it was), because divided government has again led us to a place where the most important policy decisions are probably going to be made in secret, and then passed down to the rest of us.
While online disclosure and dialog don't threaten to take away politicians' power anytime soon, they do represent our best chance at elevating substance, rewarding merit, and reducing undue influence, whether in crafting legislation or in dealing with the struggles of divided government. Sunlight's approach to government transparency has made us skeptical observers of these political negotiations, and as we find ourselves entering yet another cycle, we decided to ask:
What can we expect of the next month, and what should we do about it?
Continue readingTransparency and the Obama Presidency: Looking Back and Looking Forward
The Advisory Committee on Transparency will host an event on transparency in President Barack Obama's administration on Monday, December 3 at 2:00 pm in the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2237. When President Obama took office in 2009 he pledged to lead the most transparent administration in history. During his first term, he issued the Open Government Directive, set a new course for FOIA, and led the creation of the Open Government Partnership. At the same time, many observers have criticized the administration for lacking openness or failure to follow through in a number of important areas. We are pleased to host a panel discussion on the evolving norms and behaviors of the Obama administration toward transparency. A panel of experts will explain how the transparency landscape has changed over the past four years. They will also look ahead at prospects for further advances and possible impediments to future progress in the Obama administration's second term. Panelists:
- Anne Weismann: Chief Counsel, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
- Hudson Hollister: Executive Director, the Data Transparency Coalition
- Josh Gerstein (Invited): White House Reporter, POLITICO
- Moderator Daniel Schuman: Policy Counsel at the Sunlight Foundation and Director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency
We hope you can join us. Please RSVP to http://snlg.ht/ACTobama
The Advisory Committee on Transparency educates policymakers on transparency-related issues, problems, and solutions and shares ideas with members of the Congressional Transparency Caucus. It hosts events to discuss important and wide-ranging transparency policy issues with experts from a variety of backgrounds and develops educational publications and provides timely information to the public and members of Congress. Learn more at http://transparencycaucus.org.
Continue readingMaking our Data and APIs Bigger, Better and More Accessible
It’s no secret that we’re dataphiles here at Sunlight, or that we want everyone to have access to the underlying... View Article
Continue readingWill lobbyists complicate fiscal cliff deal-making?
As the wheeling and dealing around the “fiscal cliff” continues to envelop Washington, thousands of lobbyists representing more than a billion dollars are watching. After all, any grand bargain on spending and revenue is will go right at the heart of two of the most heavily-lobbied issues in Washington: budget and taxes In the 112th Congress, 2,049 organizations have so far spent $619 million to lobby on tax issues, and 4,576 organizations have so far spent $576 million to lobby on federal budget and appropriations issues (totals are through the second quarter of 2012). Another 1,843 organizations have spent $234 million to lobby on defense issues (under the sequester, half of the cuts are slated for defense). Add it up, and and you have at least $1.3 billion in lobbying devoted to these three issues in the 112th Congress.
Continue reading2Day in #OpenGov 11/27/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- House ethics committee investigating New York lawmaker: The House Ethics Committee is investigating U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) for allegedly violating campaign finance laws. The Committee will defer, however, to the Department of Justice's investigation into the matters. (Washington Post)
- Supreme Court declines hearing on bribery conviction: The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to hear an appeal in the case of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA). The former lawmaker was convicted of a bribery scheme and is serving a 13-year prison sentence. (Roll Call)
- SEC Chair leaving: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairwoman Mary Schapiro is leaving her position in December. She is one of the longest serving SEC chairs. Elisse Walter will fill the position. (Government Executive)
2Day in #OpenGov 11/26/12
NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Jackson resigns amid federal probe: U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) resigned from Congress citing health issues and an ongoing federal probe into alleged misuse of campaign funds. (Roll Call)
- NSA denies FOIA request: The National Security Administration (NSA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by watchdog group EPIC. The group had asked NSA to share a Presidential Directive that sets standards related to how the federal government handles cybersecurity. (Government Security News)
- Air Force, National Guard FOIA policy may violate law: The Air Force and National Guard may have violated federal law by setting a policy requiring information be released in PDF or image-based file format, which limits the accessibility of the documents. That may go against federal law requiring documents be released in the manner requested by the person or group filing a FOIA request. (Army Times)
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