Transparency

New Transparency & Disclosure Policy Among Strongest in the Country; Bans Campaign Contributions from any Parties Seeking Investment

May 26, 2009 -- (Santa Fe) – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and the State Investment Council voted unanimously today to ban any future investments with money managers who employ third-party placement agents, as well as requiring sweeping disclosure of any and all payments made in relation to Permanent Fund investments.

“The ban is the strongest in the nation and appropriately so,” Governor Bill Richardson said.

“With this ban, and the more stringent transparency and disclosure policies in place, I want the public to be confident that we are acting as responsible managers of the state’s Permanent Funds."    » read more »

May 21, 2009 -- Today, the White House is announcing a groundbreaking new means of engaging the public in policymaking at www.whitehouse.gov/open and through a formal outreach published in the Federal Register. This innovative approach provides several ways to supplement the expertise of government employees with the knowledge and know-how of the American people. It also will result in a more open, accessible federal decision-making process.

In announcing the open government efforts, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, called the initiative "an unprecedented process for public engagement in policymaking."    » read more »

Launch of Site Holds Promise for Greater Transparency, Accountability, Analysis

May 21, 2009 -- Washington, DC — The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today unveiled Data.gov – a site designed to provide unfiltered access to government data streams in machine-readable formats.    » read more »

May 22, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) applauded the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement yesterday that it would revamp the process by which it determines the toxicity of chemicals.

EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assesses the impact on human health of exposure to chemical substances, to help keep people informed about risks to public health in the air, water, and soil.

"We depend on EPA to give the American people the information they need to avoid health risks from dangerous chemicals," said Whitehouse, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight.    » read more »

Voluntary openness of Riley Administration now written into law

May 22, 2009 -- MONTGOMERY - Alabama Governor Bob Riley on Friday signed into law a bill he has been advocating for years that requires governors to report details of state aircraft usage and spending from the Governor’s Contingency Fund.

Since he came into office in 2003, Governor Riley has voluntarily posted on the Internet the flight logs of state aircraft he uses and expenditures from the contingency fund.

During a ceremony at a Department of Transportation hangar where the state keeps the jet used by Alabama governors, Governor Riley signed the bill and praised the measure as an important tool to promote accountability in state government.    » read more »

Updated Guidance Helps States Better Meet Accountability and Transparency Requirements in Recovery Act

May 13, 2009 -- The Office of Management and Budget has issued updated administrative costs guidance for states, improving the process by which they may obtain funds needed to meet the accountability and transparency requirements in the Recovery Act.

Memorandum M-09-18 (May 11, 2009) allows states to submit to the Federal Department of Health and Human Services either:

* estimated or budgeted costs for ARRA administrative costs to be included in its indirect cost rates for ARRA programs or

* a methodology to develop a billing rate for ARRA administrative costs used to charge the ARRA programs directly.    » read more »

April 22, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – The Office of Alaska Governor Palin today expressed outrage that yet another "baseless" ethics complaint has been filed as part of an alarming new development in Alaska politics.

“In the past several months, we have seen an orchestrated effort by the governor’s opponents to make differences of opinion and ideology almost criminal,” said Mike Nizich, the governor’s chief of staff. “Governor Palin has spent a considerable amount of time and money fighting ethics complaints – and no charge has been substantiated. I hope that the publicity-seekers will face a backlash from Alaskans who have a sense of fair play and proportion. I served six previous governors, and I’ve never seen anything like the attacks against Governor Palin.”    » read more »

New Version Provides Transparency & Accountability to Taxpayers

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2009 – Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today unveiled an updated version of USDA's Research, Education and Economics Information System (REEIS), which allows the public to measure the impact and effectiveness of the Department's research, education and extension programs. The latest version adds additional data sources, opens data to Google Search and provides for extended data analysis.    » read more »

Appointments.Illinois.gov makes appointment process more accessible

CHICAGO – April 9, 2009. At a meeting of the Illinois Reform Commission, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed an executive order to make appointments to Illinois boards and commissions more transparent and accessible. Under the executive order, the Governor launched Appointments.Illinois.gov, a website that allows Illinois citizens to access information about members and vacancies in the state’s 300 boards and commissions.    » read more »

March 26, 2009 -- Saint Paul – Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty unveiled a new state website today that shines the light on state government spending. The site provides a powerful new way for citizens to easily examine and follow money spent by state government.

“Online, all-the-time access to information is a powerful tool that will empower citizens to help hold government accountable,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Taxpayers are paying the bills and they should have the ability to easily look at the state’s checkbook. I encourage citizens to use this website to become watchdogs and help us make government more efficient and effective.”    » read more »

March 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder issued comprehensive new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) guidelines today that direct all executive branch departments and agencies to apply a presumption of openness when administering the FOIA. The new guidelines, announced in a memo to heads of executive departments and agencies, build on the principles announced by President Obama on his first full day in office when he issued a presidential memorandum on the FOIA that called on agencies to "usher in a new era of open government."    » read more »

Promotes financial transparency, allows Floridians to track how their taxpayer dollars are spent

March 17, 2009 -- TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Governor Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today announced a new Web site that will allow Floridians to track how state government spends their taxpayer dollars. The launch of the Sunshine Spending Web site comes during Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of Florida’s dedication to making state and local government more accessible to the public.    » read more »

March 12th, 2009 -- Today President Obama made clear that as great as the demands on our government are, accountability will never fall by the wayside.

First, this morning leaders from across the country descended upon Washington with one mission in mind: implementing the Recovery Act. Vice President Joe Biden invited implementation ‘czars’ and representatives from all U.S. states and territories to take part in the White House Conference on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Implementation. The conference was a chance for state officials to bring forward ideas and share best practices, as well as hear presentations from a number of Cabinet Secretaries and Administration officials, including Earl Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.    » read more »

March 11th, 2009 -- Today President Obama signed the final version of last year’s budget, as posted here on Friday while it was making its way through Congress, in order to keep the government functioning. As he explained, there was much to speak well of in the bill:

Now, yesterday Congress sent me the final part of last year's budget; a piece of legislation that rolls nine bills required to keep the government running into one, a piece of legislation that addresses the immediate concerns of the American people by making needed investments in line with our urgent national priorities.

That's what nearly 99 percent of this legislation does -- the nearly 99 percent that you probably haven't heard much about.    » read more »

March 10th, 2009 -- The White House periodically gets questions about the President’s Executive Order on Ethics and how it is being implemented. In addition to responding to these questions individually, we thought it might make sense to provide an overview to the public of the background for the Order and how it has been working so far.    » read more »