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2Day in #OpenGov 12/1/2011

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Here is Thursday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Campaign Finance

  • Super PACs focused on electing or defeating members of Congress are starting to appear. Most notable, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is petitioning the FEC for permission to add a Super PAC component to his leadership PAC. (Washington Post)
  • Campaign finance reform groups are pushing back against an effort in the House to end public financing of presidential campaigns and terminate the Election Assistance Commission. (National Journal)
  • House Democrats are preparing several campaign finance reform proposals. The are likely to face heavy opposition from Republicans, who argue that limitations on spending infringe on free speech. (The Hill)
Access to Information
  • Presidential candidates and President Obama are facing scrutiny over their commitments to transparency. Many of them have touted their records, but stalled or denied access to information when it pleased them. (AP/Yahoo)
  • A reporter for Gawker Media has sued the National Archives for refusing a request related to former President George W. Bush. The reporter wanted to find out who sought access to administration documents, but was denied access even though the Archives is known to have the information. (Courthouse News)
  • California newspapers are sparring with state lawmakers over the media's right to information about legislative spending. Journalists claim that the state legislature routinely responds to information requests with incomplete and misleading records. (Courthouse News)
Government
  • An oversight hearing focused on the 2009 stimulus revealed that easing some reporting requirements could lessen the burden on recipients of stimulus funds, but might result in more fraud and waste. (Nextgov)
  • The Chairman of the board charged with overseeing $800 billion in Recovery Act spending is stepping down. Earl Devaney was credited with proactively monitoring funds as opposed to reacting to waste. He is retiring after a long career in federal oversight. (Government Executive)

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2Day in #OpenGov 11/30/2011

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Here is Wednesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

  • The Senate released its semiannual report on salaries, expenses, and disbursements this morning. The report has been published since 1823, but today marks the first time it has been posted online. (Roll Call $)
  • Despite a moratorium on earmarks, lawmakers are still trying to steer special funding to their districts. Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) will introduce legislation that aims to legally ban earmarks. (Washington Post)
  • The House Ethics Committee sent a reminder, to all members of Congress and staff, that Congressional rules bar insider trading and conflicts of interest. (Roll Call $)
Lobbying
  • Newt Gingrich has insisted that he did not lobby for his consulting clients. But, it appears that he connected officials with executives and promoted his clients to lawmakers. (National Journal)
  • Energy Secretary Steven Chu's press secretary is moving through the revolving door to join BerlinRosen Public Affairs. (National Journal)
  • Staffers for the Department of Health and Human Services and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are leaving government service to join the private sector. (The Hill)
State and Local
  • The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission has had a busy year. Major staff changes and an institutional overhaul have resulted in stalled investigations and numerous delinquencies by local officials. (Lobby Comply)

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2Day in #OpenGov 11/29/2011

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Here is Tuesday's take on transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Campaign Finance

  • This week, the House is set to vote on a bill that would end the option of public financing for Presidential campaigns. Public financing began in 1976, but has seen its popularity and participation sag in the past decade. (Washington Post)
  • Politicians are gearing up for the holidays by throwing a variety of seasonally appropriate fundraisers. (National Journal)
Government
  • Apache Hadoop, a piece of open source software, makes large and diverse data-sets easily available for analysis. The software is being utilized by government agencies to make sense of their data. (Federal Computer Week)
International
  • Croatia's leading transparency advocate, Marko Rakar, made news last weekend by releasing all public procurement data for government spending since July 2009 in an easily searchable format. The data had been available on government websites, but in unusable formats. (techPresident)
  • PdF France, a conference focused on the role of the internet in political campaigns and the disruptive power of open data for local and national governments, is scheduled for next week. (techPresident)
State and Local
  • The Colorado Secretary of State has proposed a major set of changes to state campaign finance rules. Notably, the rules would limit fines for late or incomplete campaign finance reports. (Lobby Comply)
  • 32 PACs and political party groups owe $40,000 worth in fines to the state of Rhode Island. (Lobby Comply)

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2Day in #OpenGov 11/28/2011

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Here is the week's first look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup: Government

  • A new index ranks federal agency websites for readability, transparency, and clarity. The Bureau of Labor Statistics topped the index, with the Federal Railroad Administration came in last. (Federal Computer Week)
  • Open government data is getting some mainstream attention from sources like NPR and the AP. (gov 2.0)
  • Pentagon Inspector General Gordon Heddell announced that he will step down on Christmas Eve. Heddell has been credited with guiding his office with a steady hand and healing some internal problems. (POGO)
Access to Information
  • The Federal Reserve lent banks a combined $1.2 trillion on December, 5 2008. Three years later, the details of these bailouts are emerging. (Bloomberg)
  • President Obama has ordered federal agencies to make better use of digital record keeping systems. Obama stated that the move would give "the American public...access to clear and accurate information about the decisions and actions of the federal government." (Washington Post)
Lobbying
  • Advocates for America's national parks are not being left out of the post-Super-Committee lobbying rush. In the face of automatic cuts they are planning Hill visits and spending large sums in proportion with their share of the budget. (Roll Call $)
  • Two researchers have outlined a proposal to expand lobbying transparency. They argue that publishing lobbying data online would "promote competition and a vibrant democratic process". (POGO)

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