In the aftermath of a political scandal that rocked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a New York state senator has introduced a bill that would subject the agency to freedom of information law requests from the public. read more ...

From The Denver Post:  We have been strong supporters of tough rules around recreational marijuana to keep the industry on a short leash and in check. But rules written last year by the Colorado Department of Revenue's Marijuana Enforcement Division for retail marijuana advertising are unconstitutional and have been ripe for a court challenge, which came last week when the publishers of High Times and Westword filed suit in federal court. Under the published rules approved in September, marijuana advertising is prohibited in almost every medium that has an audience of at least 30 percent minors. That means no ads ...

From The Denver Post: A controversial pact between the state and a private firm hired to manage and collect tolls along U.S. 36 between Denver and Boulder was released to a skeptical public Friday afternoon. One provision says that if the state governing board overseeing the contract's provisions is involved in a legal dispute, the contract cannot be signed. That opens the door for the legislature to review all of the details of the pact, said Ken Beitel, a leading critic of the agreement and advisory board chair of the Drive SunShine Institute. He is calling for a 60-day review ...

A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the state Board of Education violated an open government law for failing to properly respond to a petition by the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU and more than 15 other ...

The days of turning in Freedom of Information Act requests for at least some Jackson city government information may soon be over. City officials along with University of Michigan School of Information students are working on an open data policy for ...

The Internet has given us an explosion of information, commentary, communication and just plain word flow the likes of which have never been seen before. You’d think our democracy could handle it — and for the most part, it has. Words o ...

“Closed-door interactions.” That’s what the American Political Science Association (APSA) has recommended as one way to tackle congressional inaction. An APSA task force suggests that less transparency in government has clear and ac ...

While opposed by open-government advocates, a Senate bill advanced in the state Legislature this week - with amendments - to allow county council members to jointly attend any meetings or presentations without violating the state's Sunshine Law, as long as the gathering is open to the public. An amended Senate Bill 2962 passed out of the Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee on Tuesday. Among those on the committee, which voted unanimously in favor, was panel Vice Chairwoman and South and West Maui Sen. Roz Baker. read more ...

Some semi-good news to report here. EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) has received a settlement from the NSA in its long-running lawsuit (dating back to late 2012) against the agency for its withholding of documents related Presidential Di ...

From The Denver Post: The spirit of open government lies in the Colorado Open Records Act — also called the sunshine law for its rule that government work should be out in the open. The law says most public records shall be available to the public. But local governments subvert the intent of the open records law when they charge excessive fees to produce the records. Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, is sponsoring legislation that would standardize the amount governments could charge for public access to open records. House Bill 1193 would prohibit charging an hourly fee that exceeds three times ...