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2Day in #OpenGov 9/30/2011

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Look forward to the weekend with Friday's transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:

Access to Information
  • The Department of Homeland Security doesn't want you to communicate with their communications staff. They released extensive records in response to a FOIA request, but redacted work phone numbers and email addresses for all communications contacts. Sunlight's Gabriela Schneider blogged about a similar issue yesterday. (Federal Times)
Government and Ethics
  • A bipartisan group of Senators is decrying proposed cuts to the GAO's budget. They fear that the cuts will hamper the agency's ability to seek out waste and abuse in the Federal government. (The Hill)
  • A group of 20 House Democrats has called for an inquiry into allegations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas violated ethics rules by failing to report his wife's income. (Roll Call)
State and Local
  • A group in New Orleans is crowdsourcing ideas to improve their city with Neighborland, a new website. They hope to spark discussion and inspire locals to push their ideas forward. (Lobby Comply)

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2Day in #OpenGov 9/29/2011

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

Campaign Finance
  • Republican Presidential candidates are trying to lower expectations for reporting their third quarter fundraising totals to the FEC  in advance of the October 15 deadline. (Washington Post)
  • Super PACs supporting presidential candidates don't appear to be struggling. A PAC backing Mitt Romney raised $20 million between January and June, and a new PAC supporting Rick Perry hopes to spend more than $50 million to elect the Texas Governor. (National Journal)
  • Campaign watchdogs have asked the IRS to investigate the tax-exempt status of 4 politically engaged groups connected to Super PACs. They claim that the groups use their status to avoid disclosing the identities of major political donors. (National Journal)
E-Gov
  • Experts, including the Sunlight Foundation's Daniel Schuman, agree that it is difficult to measure the performance of E-Gov programs using regular metrics. However, they disagree on what this should mean for E-Gov funding levels, which are slated to be cut drastically. (Federal Computer Week)
State and Local
  • The San Bernardino County, CA Board of Supervisors has approved a measure to limit donations to local campaigns. (Lobby Comply)
  • The National Association of Government Webmasters has singled out three municipal websites for their high level of  achievement in web design and development. (govfresh)

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2Day in #OpenGov 9/28/2011

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

Super Committee
  • The Super Committee has taken a turn towards the opaque, holding closed door meetings on back-to-back days. Members and staff have been tight lipped on the direction of discussion and the committee has no public meetings scheduled. (Politico) Sunlight Foundation Policy Director John Wonderlich shares his views here.
Campaign Finance
  • Freshman Republicans, most of whom ran on a vehemently anti-establishment platform, are quickly learning the ways of Washington fundraising. House freshman have at least 100 fundraisers scheduled around town over the next two months. (Politico)
  • Opinion: Candidate Super PAC's should never be considered independent,  are inherently corrupt, and should be shut down according to this opinion piece. (Politico)
Government
  • The House Small Business Committee is harnessing the power of the internet to better carry out their mission. The forum aims to connect the committee with small business owners who can't travel to Washington to share their views. (Federal Computer Week)
  • The State Department and USAID are working to make their data more useful and usable. They are promoting data visualization projects and trying to draw in new data from the 24 federal agencies that are involved in foreign assistance projects. (nextgov)
Revolving Door
  • Eric Cantor's (R-VA) senior policy adviser, Shimmy Stein, is leaving the Hill to join Blank Rome Government Relations as a principal. He will focus on tax, trade, financial services, and defense issues. (Roll Call)
State and Local
  • The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has been using audience response technology at meetings and hearings to collect data on citizen priorities. The technology allows participants to provide feedback and vote on issues during meetings and helps the agency quickly analyze the data. (GovTech)
  • Oklahoma's online Medicaid benefits portal has been a resounding success. Nearly 40% of applicants were using the portal within two months of its launch and it is projected to save the state $22 million over 5 years. (GovTech)

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2Day in #OpenGov 9/27/2011

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Here is Tuesday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events. News Roundup:
Government
  • The Federal Government's 62 Inspector Generals are well worth the money. According to a new report by the GAO, they save the government $18 for every $1 spent on them. (POGO)
  • Meanwhile, the E-Gov fund received mixed reviews from a new GAO report. Many of the problems came about when the programs funding was cut for FY2011 (Federal Computer Week)
  • The Office of Personnel Management is preparing to release a new version of its USAJobs website. The upgraded system aims to provide a more user friendly, retail oriented experience for job seekers. (Government Executive)
Revolving Door
  • The Head of the Justice Department's public affairs office, Matthew Miller, who has also worked for Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the House Democratic Caucus will leave government to become a partner at consultancy firm Vianovo. (National Journal)
Campaign Finance
  • A group of 200 business executives has called on corporations to be more transparent about their political activities. They had harsh words for the Citizens United decision, and urged Congress to pass new disclosure laws. (Politico)
  • Facebook has filed papers to launch a PAC. They will be joining Google and Microsoft, among other technology companies, with robust political funding operations. (techPresident)
State and Local
  • Two Supervisors from San Bernardino County, CA plan to introduce a campaign finance law at the Board of Supervisor's next meeting. The law would impose and enforce limits on contributions to county elections. (Lobby Comply)

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2Day in #OpenGov 9/26/2011

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

Government
  • Nobody is happy with President Obama's newly proposed set of ethics rules for executive branch employees. K Street thinks they are too stringent; reformers counter that they don't go far enough. (Roll Call $)(The Hill)
  • Improved oversight and administration of defense contracts is necessary for the Pentagon to reach a 2017 deadline for auditable books, according to a Defense Department deputy inspector. (Government Executive)
  • Many have suggested that agencies should create vendor management offices to oversee contractors' work quality. (Federal Computer Week)
  • A CATO study gave Congress a C+ for how well it provides access to its legislative data. (GovFresh)
Lobbying
  • A former White House official is serving a year in prison for lying to federal investigators about his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (Federal Times)
  • The Energy Department has not disclosed any records of being lobbied by the failed solar energy company Solyndra, despite its K Street lobbying firm reporting lobbying the department regarding the stimulus package. (The Hill)
  • After spending mostly on the Democratic side in 2008, Google has gone on a "spending spree on the Republican side of the aisle." The company is now spending the same amount on lobbying as Microsoft. (techPresident)
Technology
  • Government and technology are coming together to design apps to aid disaster response. (Federal Computer Week)
State and Local
  • South Carolina's governor and other officials went overseas to attend the 49th International Paris Air Show, ultimately costing taxpayers $231,500. This information only came to light after the South Carolina Policy Council spent three months investigating, including filing multiple FOIA requests and writing a $270 check. (The Nerve)
  • Philadelphia has approved regulations that will require lobbyists to register with the city's ethics board. (Philly.com)
  • DC Council member Tommy Wells plans to introduce his draft legislation seeking to limit lobbyists' influence on city policymaking next week. (Washington Post)
  • New York Governor Cuomo's new website, Citizen Connects, will be used to host live online chats with the governor and his staff. (GovTech)

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