Transparency

February 6, 2008 -- JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today issued the following statement commending Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith for her announcement that the Judicial Appellate Commission will move towards a more transparent selection process.

“I commend Judge Stith for taking action to address some of the concerns I raised last summer about the Commission’s process of selecting Supreme Court judges.    » read more »

Move Would Run Afoul Of Newly Enacted OPEN Government Act

WASHINGTON (Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) says funds for the Office of Government Information Services authorized under the newly enacted OPEN Government Act will be shifted to the Department of Justice, according to White House aides.    » read more »

January 19, 2008, Juneau, Alaska - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today introduced the Alaska Health Care Transparency Act which will provide more effective tools to help Alaskans access affordable health care, and to ensure our health care system is responsive to changing demographics and market conditions.

The Act includes some recommendations from the Health Care Strategies Planning Council and the Health and Social Services Certificate of Need Negotiated Rule Making Committee.    » read more »

December 20, 2007 -- “I applaud Congress for passing the Open Government Act of 2007. It represents the first change to federal Freedom of Information law in over a decade. The Act sets timelines for request responses; establishes a tracking system with penalties if agencies do not respond; and creates an Office of Open Government Services. These stipulations will allow more citizens to achieve wider access to federal government.    » read more »

House Passes OPEN Government Bill, Sending Long-Awaited FOIA Reforms To White House

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007) – Legislation to implement the first reforms to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in more than a decade will head to the President’s desk for signature after the House of Representatives today passed important legislation to increase government transparency and bring more openness to the federal government.    » read more »

Leahy, Cornyn, Kyl Call On House To Swiftly Pass FOIA Reform Legislation

WASHINGTON -- Dec. 14, 2007 – The Senate Friday unanimously passed revised legislation to improve and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act – the law that protects the public’s right to know what their government is doing. The Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National (OPEN) Government Act was reintroduced by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and passed by the Senate.    » read more »

Bipartisan Commission to Investigate Wartime Support Contracting and Reconstruction in Iraq & Afghanistan

December 7, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Late Thursday, the Senate and the House negotiators agreed on a landmark provision to improve wartime contracting and accountability sponsored by Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO). The measure is expected to receive final approval when both chambers of Congress vote on final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act later this month.    » read more »

Urge Senate And House To Swiftly Pass FOIA Improvement Bill To Increase Government Transparency

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007) – Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) Tuesday introduced bipartisan, revised legislation to increase government transparency and provide the first major reforms to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in more than a decade.    » read more »

November 16, 2007 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today celebrated Connecticut’s top ranking for government transparency by the public interest group Good Jobs First. The Washington, D.C.-based group rated all 50 states on the amount and accessibility of information about state contracting, economic development funding and lobbying and gave Connecticut the highest marks in the nation.    » read more »

Law Reforms Contracting Process, Brings Openness and Transparency to State Purchasing Procedures

October 10, 2007 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell has signed a landmark bill into law that reforms the State purchasing process, creates a new state Contracting Standards Board with the power to review contracts and brings openness and transparency to the procedures by which State government buys goods and services.    » read more »

October 9, 2007 -- (Washington, DC) – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) introduced The Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 – the “RESTORE Act,” in an effort to address concerns about civil liberty protections in the hastily-enacted “Protect America Act” that was signed into law in early August.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- October 4, 2007 -- The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, as amended. The measure is sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).    » read more »

Court Finds Bush Order Impedes Access, Violates Presidential Records Act

Oct. 1, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal district court today struck down part of an executive order issued by President Bush in 2001 to limit public access to the records of past presidents. The ruling by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in American Historical Association v. National Archives and Records Administration (No.    » read more »

Project unveils report from Phase 1, implements website disclosure of contracts

September 26, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today addressed the participants of the 2007 Sunshine Summit and unveiled the report on the first phase of his Government Accountability Project (GAP), highlighting the importance of open access to government. The project was launched earlier this year to encourage state and local government entities to provide Florida’s citizens more information and records necessary to hold their government accountable.    » read more »

August 30, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sent the following letter to Secretary Michael Leavitt requesting information on the interactions of political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the Surgeon General, specifically during tenure of Dr. Richard Carmona.

The letter is below.

August 30, 2007

Secretary Michael Leavitt
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Secretary Leavitt:    » read more »