FOIA reform, infrastructure on table for next session
Our recent election was exciting on both the local and national levels. I was honored to be re-elected to serve District 120. Running unopposed does take some of the anxiety out of the electoral process, but it doesn’t diminish my appreciation ...
NOAA asks industry to fund open data program
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is looking to industry to fund its open data initiatives in partnerships intended to meet its unfunded mandates while also spurring innovation in the private sector. NOAA creates and gather ...
Government Transparency Group Won’t Say How Much Money it Wins From Open Records Lawsuits
A group that claims to be a champion of transparency has been filing a slew of lawsuits against Florida's government agencies, ostensibly to force the agencies to comply with public records laws. But just how much money has the group won? They're not willing to say. read more ...
Free access
The importance of the Freedom of Information Act is clearly written in West Virginia Code. The “declaration of policy” is as follows: read more ...
JUDICIAL WATCH SUES FEDS TO OBTAIN MEDIA MONITORING RECORDS
Watchdog group Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama Administration in October, in order to obtain records relating to media monitoring plan records. More specifically, the FOIA i ...
U.S. court affirms SEC stance on withholding Wall St arbitration records
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not have to release records about its supervision of Wall Street's arbitration process to a group of investors' lawyers, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ends, at least for now, a long-running battle about the public's right of access to documents about the SEC's oversight over the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's arbitration system. read more ...
Seven months and counting: A FOIA lament
Today marks the seven-month anniversary of my oldest outstanding public records request, so please indulge me in some ventilation. Back on April 14, before the snow of last winter melted, I made a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Today, snow once more whitens the ground, and I'm still waiting. read more ...
Gathering state salary information was no easy task
The Gazette filed a Colorado Open Records Act request from the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration asking for the current salaries of all state employees who earn at least $100,000. We wanted to share this data so the public could see how their tax dollars are spent. However, creating an accurate database of all state employees' salaries was a challenge ...
Counties, Cities to Boost Open Data Investments
Investments in open data initiatives are rising at all levels of government, especially in counties and cities, where decision-makers expect to increase funding in the next six months, according to a new survey. Seattle-based Socrata, which special ...
Startup Money Will Provides Easy-to-Use Open-Government Tools to Cities and States
With $750,000 in additional funding, the OpenGov Foundation plans to expand its footprint into the world of lawmaking tools for citizens and governments. read more ...
