The New Hampshire Supreme Court ordered an umbrella organization representing municipalities and schools to release individual salary records to a firefighters' union that tracks the organization's use of taxpayer money paid for health insurance. Affirming the state's Right-to-Know Law, a unanimous court said public access gives direct insight into the operations of a public body through
Freedom of Information
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The FOI Advocate
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New Hampshire Affirms Right-to-Know Law
2 Feb 2010 | 7:41 pm -
OMLN Partners with NFOIC
2 Feb 2010 | 7:34 pmThe Berkman Center's Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) is partnering with the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) to assist with freedom of information lawsuits and to provide online journalists with FOI information and assistance. The NFOIC received a $2 million, three-year grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to launch the Knight FOI Fund and support open -
FBI Investigated Late Rep. Henry Hyde
2 Feb 2010 | 7:26 pmFBI files obtained by Gawker using the FOIA show that the late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) was investigated for four years by the FBI. Hyde represented a west suburban Chicago district and chaired the House panel that impeached President Clinton.Read more here. -
University of Illinois Sued Over Admissions Clout Lists
2 Feb 2010 | 6:50 pmThe Chicago Tribune has sued the University of Illinois for information explaining why applicants were placed on admission clout lists, specifically the names of applicants' parents and identities of the patrons who advocated on behalf of the applicants.The university has refused to provide the information to the newspaper, saying the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents its -
Michigan Court of Appeals Asks Legislature to Update the State's FOIA
30 Jan 2010 | 12:43 pmIn a "friendly" lawsuit set up to determine whether emails from teacher union leaders are public records if they are contained in a school district's computer system, the Michigan Court of Appeals said no, they are not.The Court also asked the Legislature to clarify and update the state's 33-year old Freedom of Information Act to address electronic records. Judges Mark J. Cavanagh, E. Thomas
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The FOIA blog
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American Small Business League Recieves Attorneys Fees
9 Feb 2010 | 4:57 amThe American Small Business League is reporting that it has received attorneys fees from the Small Business Administration ("SBA") resulting from a FOIA lawsuit the league filed in 2007. Earlier, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had disagreed with the SBA's position that the database sought in the request was not the SBA's record because the database itself was compiled by the General Services Administration from data sent to it by the SBA. -
DOJ Introduces New Open Government Site
7 Feb 2010 | 12:53 pmThe Department of Justice has introduces a new Open Government website, including a new FOIA page. Now, if they'll just use their FOIA policy making powers to get the rest of the government in line with the Obama/Holder policies. -
FOIA Blog Goes Rouge: Todd Palin Emails Released
5 Feb 2010 | 11:44 amMSNBC has recieved pursuant to the Alaska Public Records Act, a number of emails sent to or by Todd Palin while his wife was governor of Alaska, however some of the material was withheld under the deliberative process privilege. The deliberative process privilege was invoked for various information because Palin was, according to Alaska, acting as an advisor to government decision making. The issue before an Alaska court will be does the first husband have a position that is more than just that of a member of the public when it comes to government decisionmaking? If… -
Huffpost Blogger FOIA Request Denied
5 Feb 2010 | 7:30 amNaomi Wolf, a blogger for the Huffington Post, has been denied information on the autopsy of a representative of a Guantanamo Bay detainee. The Defense Department denied the request pursuant to exemptions 2, 7(A) and 7(C). She writes about it here. This illustrates problems from both sides of the issue: While its fun for writers, on all sides of the political spectrum, to bash the government for denying records pursuant to a FOIA request, the government is allowed to withhold certain records provided they have a legal reason for doing so. … -
EPIC Files Lawsuit Against NSA on Agency's CyberSecurity Authority
5 Feb 2010 | 4:29 amComputerWorld reports that the Electronic Privacy Information Center ("EPIC") has filed a FOIA lawsuit against the National Security Agency ("NSA") in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit concerns a request made to NSA by EPIC for details on the authority NSA was granted on domestic cybersecurity matters under National Security Presidential Directive 54 (NPSD54). The directive is classified, is also known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21, and was issued during the Bush Administration. NSA has thus far…
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PaFOIC
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Opinion: No blanket exemption for email on personal account
28 Jan 2010 | 4:35 pmQ: I requested access to e-mails sent between council members and the mayor of a local agency. The agency denied my request on the basis that the agency does not provide e-mail accounts to council or the mayor, and the e-mails are sent from personal e-mail addresses. Can they do that? -
State revises access policy for court documents
27 Jan 2010 | 7:09 pmThe prevalence of identity theft is one of the reasons the state has revised its paper record access policy for magisterial district courts. “Personal financial and Social Security information are two key elements of the kind that will not be included in court files for public review,” said Stuart Ditzen, assistant for communications, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. -
Allentown sues Morning Call, reporter, open records office
27 Jan 2010 | 4:14 pmAllentown is suing The Morning Call, reporter Jarrett Renshaw and the state Office of Open Records, claiming the agency improperly ruled on Renshaw's request under the year-old Right-to-Know Law for the official e-mails and schedules of Mayor Ed Pawlowski and other administration officials. -
Judge rules to release names as sewer records fight ends after 8 months
27 Jan 2010 | 5:23 amAn eight-month fight over the identities of Sharon sewer customers who collectively owe about $1 million in unpaid bills ended Tuesday with a judge agreeing with the state Office of Open Records and ordering the records be released. -
WGAL-TV appeals ruling barring it from information on college student's death
26 Jan 2010 | 6:55 pmA midstate TV station is appealing a Cumberland County judge’s ruling barring it from information on a Shippensburg University student’s death.
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California First Amendment Coalition
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Appeals panels in Pennsylvania rule in contradictory ways on student on-line speech
8 Feb 2010 | 2:02 pmFree speech advocates are mulling over the decisions of two three-judge panel in appeals courts for the Third Circuit as the panels ruled separately that a student had the right to speak freely off-campus and that the school had a right to punish students for off-campus speech they deemed disruptive to the school. -db Student Press Law Center February 4, 2010 By Katie Maloney PENNSYLVANIA — Two three-judge panels of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down conflicting opinions today regarding student on-line speech: One protected a student’s right to… -
California: San Jose State State University revises repressive speech code for dorm students
8 Feb 2010 | 10:18 amThe San Jose State University administration altered the wording in their harassment policy to remove unconstitutional limits on the free speech of dormitory students. -db FIRE Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Opinion February 8, 2010 By Samantha Harris There is good news today for students living in the residence halls at San Jose State University (SJSU). The housing department has revised several restrictive policies, including a previous FIRE Speech Code of the Month, thanks to the efforts of administrators seeking to protect the free speech rights of SJSU students. In April… -
Southern California: Workers want right to solicit work on street corner
8 Feb 2010 | 9:51 amDay laborers in Costa Mesa are contesting a city law that bans them from seeking employment on city streets. The laborers want “solicitation speech” included as protected speech under the First Amendment. -db Courthouse News Service February 8, 2010 By Elizabeth Banicki SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) – Day laborers say Costa Mesa enforces an unconstitutional ordinance that prohibits them from seeking employment on public streets. The Asociacion de Jornaleros or Association of Day Laborers claims the 2005 ordinance violates the First and 14th Amendments. The plaintiffs, Asociacion de… -
CBS opens door to issue ad during Super Bowl
8 Feb 2010 | 9:22 amWith a University of Florida football star and his mother appearing in an anti-abortion ad during the Super Bowl, it would seem that CBS has reversed its policy on rejecting issue ads during the broadcast. It remains to be seen if they will also welcome pro-choice ads as well. -db American Civil Liberties Union Opinion February 5, 2010 By Louise Melling By now, you’ve caught wind of the fact that, during this weekend’s Super Bowl, CBS plans to air an ad featuring University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother talking about the circumstances of Tim’s birth. Focus… -
Olympic athletes in winter games confused by rules restricting social media
8 Feb 2010 | 9:03 amOlympic social media rules bar athletes from acting as reporters since they lack accreditation, but they can twitter in the first person and send reports from the sidelines. -db Wired February 5, 2010 By Mark McClusky American skier Lindsey Vonn, one of the potential stars of the 2010 Winter Olympics, told her nearly 35,000 Twitter followers that she would not be posting to the social network until after the Games were over, perhaps based on a faulty understanding of the International Olympic Committee’s rules on blogging and social networking. Vonn wrote that “because of the Olympic…
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Reporters Committee News
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Colorado court says shield law protects unaired Dateline footage
A Colorado district court has denied an insurance marketing company's motion to compel NBC's Dateline to hand over unaired camera footage. Insurance marketer Brokers' Choice of America sued NBC and . . . -
Texas attorney general says no constitutional rights for cities
Four Texas cities that filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the state's open meetings law infringes on their right to free speech must withdraw as plaintiffs because government agencies cannot have . . . -
Wisconsin committee passes bill restricting access to court records
A Wisconsin state assembly committee has passed a bill that would restrict public online access to court records, WQOW (Eau Claire) reported. The proposed bill limits public access to cases where . . . -
Kansas high court allows reporter subpoena to stand
The Kansas Supreme Court yesterday ruled that prosecutors may force Dodge City Globe reporter Claire O’Brien to testify about her news gathering activities and materials in a murder . . . -
Kentucky's Senate passes two transparency bills
The Kentucky Senate unanimously passed two bills today that would require all government agencies -- including public colleges and universities -- to disclose financial data online, The Kentucky . . .
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Idahoans for Openness in Government
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Idaho Democrats have gone to the dark side
27 Jan 2010 | 8:27 pmSay it ain't so! Idaho Democrats are going the way of their Republican brethren when it comes to government secrecy. The minority Democrats, with just 18 House seats and seven in the Senate, made the decision to caucus behind closed doors to maximize their effectiveness. That reason doesn't fly with us. Editorial from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News -
Idaho Dems shut down open caucuses
20 Jan 2010 | 7:02 pmIdaho’s House and Senate minority caucuses have voted to close their meetings to the public, saying they don’t want Republicans to get a glimpse of their game plan. “To maximize our effectiveness in the Legislature, we must take the field with every advantage that we can muster,” said House Assistant Minority Leader James Ruchti, D-Pocatello. From The Spokesman-Review -
Democrats do 180, shut out public
20 Jan 2010 | 7:00 pmThe legislative minority abandoned its argument that Democrats are the champions of transparency at the Legislature. From the Idaho Statesman -
Juvenile Court judge orders Pavlis bike fatality case sealed
29 Dec 2009 | 6:35 pmA Boise boy has already made his first Juvenile Court appearance in the death of well-known cycling enthusiast Kevin Pavlis. But what happened in the courtroom remains a mystery, since 4th District Juvenile Judge William Harrigfeld is keeping the case sealed from the public. From the Idaho Statesman -
Ninth Circuit Judicial Council Approves Experimental Use of Cameras in District Courts
18 Dec 2009 | 6:28 pmThe Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, governing body for federal courts in the western states, has approved, on an experimental basis, the limited use of cameras in federal district courts within the circuit. From the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council
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Capital Eye
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Center for Responsive Politics to Remain Closed Tuesday
8 Feb 2010 | 9:38 pmThe Center for Responsive Politics will be closed Tuesday because of a snowstorm that has also caused Washington, D.C.-area federal government offices to remain shut for a second day.Center for Responsive Politics staff will return phone calls and e-mails when the Center reopens later this week.Members of the working press with urgent interview requests may on Tuesday call 817-917-4141. -
Toyota's Lobbying Power Primed for Test as Congressional Scrutiny Mounts
8 Feb 2010 | 8:26 pmToyota's leadership and army of prominent lobbyists face a monumental government relations battle as Congress primes itself for a series of public hearings regarding the embattled automaker's recall of hundreds of thousands of vehicles over accelerator pedal and brake defects.But they're likely as ready as any of their ilk: Among foreign car companies, Toyota's federal lobbying efforts are unmatched, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.In 2009 alone, the company employed 31 federal lobbyists -- including a former member of Congress and numerous ex-congressional staffers… -
Rep. John Murtha, Popular and Polarizing, Dead at 77
8 Feb 2010 | 1:09 pmRep. John Murtha, a veteran Democratic lawmaker as popular with his Pennsylvania constituents as he was polarizing on the national political scene, died this afternoon after experiencing complications from gallbladder surgery.(Read his office's statement, via Capitol News Connection, here.)Murtha was 77. He had served in the House since 1974 and was the first Vietnam War combat veteran to win a congressional seat.Widely beloved in Pennsylvania's 12th District, which skirts Pittsburgh to the south and east, Murtha helped secure hundreds of millions of federal dollars for his constituents,… -
Capital Eye's PolitiQuizz: Let it Snowe!
8 Feb 2010 | 9:15 amSince Washington, D.C., today is covered by nearly three feet of white stuff, and the city is effectively shut down, who better to highlight for this week's PolitiQuizz than Sen. Olympia Snowe?The challenge: It may not surprise you that the Portland, Maine, metro area is (geographically speaking) this longtime Republican senator's most generous campaign cash contributor for her career. But three non-Maine metro areas also rank among Snowe's top five contributors by metro area. Name at least two of them. The first person to correctly answer this question by leaving an answer in this… -
Richard Shelby's War for Defense Dollars, NFL Love for Louisiana Pol and More in Capital Eye Opener: February 8
7 Feb 2010 | 11:35 pmYour daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:MY EARMARKS FOR YOUR NOMINEES: The White House wants the U.S. Senate to approve dozens of its federal agency nominees. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) wants a tanker jet-load of federal cash for defense-related projects he considers crucial to his state's financial fortunes -- and he's holding up President Barack Obama's nominees until he gets it.Commence not-very-in-the-spirit-of-bipartisanship bickering. "It boggles the mind," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday of the row. "Unaddressed national…
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Sunlight Foundation Transparency Ecosystem
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Sunlight Foundation: Citizens United Part 2 – Lobbyist Disclosure
9 Feb 2010 | 6:48 amSunlight recently developed a seven-point plan for a comprehensive and meaningful disclosure regime in a post-Citizens United political world. John blogged about the first piece of the platform, Independent Expenditures, and today I’ll be focusing lobbying disclosure, which, even before Citizens United, needed to be updated to address the who, what, when, and why a [...] Read more... -
Open Congress: 5 Ways Bloggers Can Use OpenCongress to Build Public Knowledge About Congress
8 Feb 2010 | 6:50 pmRead more... -
Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time: ProPublica: congressional Super Bowl partying “out of limelight”
8 Feb 2010 | 3:34 pmThe outlet ProPublica reports on its investigation into which lawmakers attended the Super Bowl this year, and how they managed to get their tickets, here. Their basic finding? That most of the congressional partying at such events stays “out of the limelight.” We were happy to partner with ProPublica in this distributed reporting effort, and [...] Read more... -
Sunlight Labs: DC Gov Builds Amazing Open Gov Dashboard
8 Feb 2010 | 10:57 amOn Saturday, the White House released its http://whitehouse.gov/open/around. It features a big chart with 29 agencies on it measured by four attributes. I suspect that the technology behind this dashboard is likely an excel file, alongside staffers or interns checking each agency website for compliance. It's a start of something-- but a chart does not a dashboard make.Here in Washington DC, amidst a couple feet of snow (with more on the way), Mayor Fenty released Track, a real way for citizens to watch their government's performance. Both substance wise and technically, it out-atheletes the… -
Sunlight Foundation: 5 Guiding Principles for a National Transparency Campaign
8 Feb 2010 | 7:23 amWe believe that a disaffected, disengaged, cynical public threatens democracy in the United States as few other things can. At its heart, our campaign is about building the political and community clout necessary to combat this problem. We think we can invigorate democracy by coming together, demanding transparency with serious political muscle, using the very latest in technology to make government information more meaningfully accessible to us, and holding government accountable with it. Read more...
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EFF.org Updates
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EFF Asks Court to Suppress Evidence Illegally Gathered From Password-Protected Phone
8 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pmOur cell phones aren't just for calls anymore. They hold our address books, our calendars, our emails, and our grocery lists. They may even include things like a list of questions to ask your doctor, pictures of your girlfriend, or URLs of web sites you've visited. When can police search your phone and look at all this information? That's the question that EFF is asking a court in California to consider. In People v. Taylor, police in Daly City, California seized a suspect's iPhone during his arrest. Hours later, investigators bypassed the password and searched through the data on the device… -
Google Superbowl Ad Explains The Need for Search Privacy
8 Feb 2010 | 12:08 pmGoogle's ad during yesterday's Superbowl explained in less than a minute how the story of someone's life can be pieced together from their search queries. Using only the search terms and user's clicks of the search results, Google told the story of a user who seeks love while studying abroad in Paris, finds it, moves to Paris, marries and has a child. The poignant story, along with Google's suite of search stories, masterfully illustrate how some of the most intimate information in our lives--from planning a trip to political activism--are routinely and vividly expressed in our interactions… -
EFF Fights for Cell Phone Users' Privacy in Thursday Hearing
8 Feb 2010 | 8:43 amPhiladelphia - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will be arguing this Thursday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia, urging the court to block a government attempt to seize telephone company records detailing a cell phone user's past locations without first getting a search warrant. EFF is serving as a friend of the court or "amicus," joined by co-amici the ACLU, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the Center for Democracy & Technology. Professor Susan Freiwald of the University of San Francisco, who submitted a separate amicus brief to the panel, will be… -
Patent Office Grants EFF Request for Reexamination of Dangerous VOIP Patent
5 Feb 2010 | 12:29 pmSan Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination of an illegitimate patent on voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) that could cripple the adoption of new VoIP technologies. A company named Acceris Communications Technologies, now C2 Communications Technologies, was awarded the bogus patent for hardware, software, and processes for implementing VoIP using analog telephones as endpoints -- covering many telephone calls made over the Internet. EFF and the law firm Fenwick & West LLP filed a reexamination request showing that both a prior patent and published… -
Know Before You Go: Tickets May Come at a Higher Price Than You Realize
5 Feb 2010 | 11:48 amAs part of our Terms of (Ab)use project, we pay close attention to the fine print of online agreements for provisions that are potentially dangerous to consumers. We've noticed a troubling change in the way event planners restrict the rights of individuals who attend their shows. Where once these limitations had to fit on the back of a ticket, increasingly event organizers have moved their fine print online, where they are able to use even more contract law to avoid the limits of trademark and copyright law and actively control what ticket holders can say or do even after the event is over.
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OMBWatch: The Fine Print
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Sound and Furry or a Tell?
5 Feb 2010 | 9:01 am<!--break--> The Budget Brigade never finds itself short of words when it comes to commenting on the president's budget proposal. But it is, after all, just a proposal. What is the practical effect of the president's budget? Bruce Bartlett writing at Capital Gains and Games in a great post on of the history of federal budget making says "not much." Given all these changes in the budget process, the president's budget has been greatly diminished in importance. Whereas it was once the necessary starting point for all budget discussion, since that was the only place the numbers even existed,… -
Second Open Government Directive Deadline this Saturday
5 Feb 2010 | 8:04 amDespite the major snowpocolypse expected to hit DC tonight, some government agencies are getting a head start on the next major OGD deadline. This Saturday will be the 60th day since the publication of the new agency-wide transparency policy. Check out ProPublica’s Transparency Tracker for a full list of agencies that have developed an open-government website. In addition to the Saturday deadline for each agency to host an open government web portal located at www.[agency].gov/open to serve as the public gateway for all agency OGD related activity there are other… -
Estate Tax Foes Attempt to Enlist Religious Conservatives
4 Feb 2010 | 5:27 pm<!--break--> It seems old Dick Patten at the American Family Business Institute (AFBI) is up to his old tricks again, trying to scare people about the estate tax with lies and distortions in an attempt to gin up support to kill the tax in Congress. This time, though, he's adopted pious language to spread the gospel of the "evils" of the tax among religious conservatives. In a recent article, Rebecca Foerg-Spittel over at Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, details the interesting press conference Patten headed up last week at the offices of the conservative… -
Groups Call on Obama to Reform Faith-Based Office
4 Feb 2010 | 2:03 pmOMB Watch, along with religious and public policy organizations, sent President Barack Obama a letter on the anniversary of the Executive Order establishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The groups asked Obama to, "take additional actions to prevent government-funded religious discrimination and protect social service beneficiaries from unwelcome proselytizing." The letter details specific proposals to protect civil rights in federally funded social services, including banning employment discrimination based on religion in tax-funded projects. -
Transparency Community Voices Concerns over Data.gov
4 Feb 2010 | 1:57 pmYesterday, a group of organizations, including OMB Watch, submitted concerns with the high-value datasets published on Data.gov in compliance with the requirements of the Open Government Directive (OGD) issued on Dec. 8. The OGD required that agencies submit at least three high value datasets within 45 days through Data.gov. These groups outlined the major problems with the site and its implementation thus far. I have summarized these issues below. <!--break--> Yesterday, a group of organizations, including OMB Watch, submitted concerns with the high-value datasets…
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Open-Governement Blog
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Office of Open Records Bill Is Dead
8 Feb 2010 | 1:07 pmThe bill to create an option to have an administrative agency decide Public Records Act disputes has died in committee, so reports The (Aberdeen) Daily World. -
Kitsap Sun Editorial on Plan to Eliminate Sunshine Committee
7 Feb 2010 | 9:39 amThis Kitsap Sun editorial describes why the Sunshine Committee is worth the small amount of money it costs. -
Best Cartoon Ever
5 Feb 2010 | 8:25 am -
Editorial on Not Cutting Sunshine Committee Funding
4 Feb 2010 | 11:14 amThe (Longview) Daily News writes this editorial urging the Legislature to not cut funding for the Sunshine Committee. -
Peter Callaghan Column on Open Meetings and the Legislature
4 Feb 2010 | 11:12 amIn 1971, the Legislature exempted itself from the Open Public Meetings Act. Peter Callaghan doesn't like that.
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Local Open Government Blog
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Illinois Court Distinguishes FOIA Precedent and Requires Disclosure of Police Survey under Illinois Law
8 Feb 2010 | 11:53 amThe Rockford (Illinois) Police Department commissioned a 2007 survey by Rockford College of uniform and non-uniform Department personnel, as well as residents in a particular area of the City. In addition to Departmental performance, the survey sought an assessment of employee job satisfaction. The Rockford Police union sought disclosure of the survey results. The City resisted, asserting that the survey results were protected from disclosure under any of three exemptions: audits; personnel matters; or, the “self-critical analysis” privilege. On January 22, 2010, an Illinois… -
New Jersey Appellate Court Holds Judicial Privilege May Not Be Absolute Outside Traditional Litigation Setting; Expunged Criminal Record
4 Feb 2010 | 10:13 amIn Nunez v. Pachman, 2009 WL 5084084 (N.J. Super., A.D., Dec. 29, 2009), the Court was called upon to decide whether a verbal reference in an arbitration to an expunged criminal record could violate a reasonable expectation of privacy and give rise to a cause of action sounding in tort. In New Jersey, “expungement” requires “all” records of a conviction to be destroyed. This in turn can give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy. The court noted that other states’ laws on expungement may be less strict, and cited cases holding that no claim for violation of… -
Court of Appeals Declines to Recognize Tort Cause of Action for Damages for Negligent Disclosure of Unsubstantiated Allegations of Misconduct
1 Feb 2010 | 11:06 amIn Corey v. Pierce County, 2010 WL 255956 (Court of Appeals, Div. 1 Jan. 25, 2010), the Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order allowing a claim for damages for negligent release of unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct by a deputy prosecutor. The former deputy prosecutor alleged that disclosure of allegations of misconduct violated her right to privacy. The court held that protection against disclosure by an agency subject to the public records laws must be based upon the Public Records Act (PRA), RCW 42.56. The PRA provides for an action to order publication of information that… -
Medical Privacy should always be considered in responding to Public Records Act requests
29 Jan 2010 | 8:07 amIn addition to federal HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requirements, the Washington State Medical Records Act, Chapter 70.02 RCW places strict limits upon the disclosure of health care information. These limits apply to all health care providers, not only to hospitals. This includes anyone who "is licensed, certified, registered, or otherwise authorized by the law of this state to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession." An example would be EMT services provided by fire departments and fire districts. The Public… -
House Bill Would Remove the Collective Bargaining Public Records Exemption
26 Jan 2010 | 8:14 amA bill has been introduced in the Washington State House of Representatives that would remove a public records exemption for certain records regarding public sector collective bargaining. HB 1471 would remove the exemption for all records created or presented during collective bargaining, and all records received by the bargaining representative -- after a collective bargaining agreement is reached.
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UK Freedom of Information Blog
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Scottish Information Commissioner Newsletter Jan/Feb 2010
9 Feb 2010 | 3:19 amThe latest edition of Inform, the Scottish Information Commissioner's newsletter, has been published:In this edition, I reflect on 5 years of FOI, and look forward to the next 5 years. I update readers on our new guidance following a recent Court of Session ruling, and report on the events my Office is holding to celebrate the 5th anniversary of FOI in Scotland. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/News/Newsletter/InformNewsletterJanFeb2010.asp -
Information Commissioner's e-newsletter edition 16
9 Feb 2010 | 3:16 amThe January 2010 edition of the ICO's e-newsletter has been published:http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resources/enewsletter_and_alerts/previous_enewsletters/English/Edition16.aspx -
Adequacy of Ministry of Justice's FOI statistics
5 Feb 2010 | 9:13 amThe Campaign for Freedom of Information has responded to a request from the UK Statistics Authority for its views on the adequacy of the Ministry of Justice's freedom of information monitoring statistics. The response outlines the Campaign's concerns about the quality of the statistics describing the delays by central government in dealing with requests.Download the response here. -
Prime Minister's speech on transforming politics
3 Feb 2010 | 3:23 amThe Prime Minister has given a speech on transforming politics in which he set out the next steps of the Government's programme of constitutional and parliamentary reform. He also spoke about the importance of citizen empowerment through opening up government and and reducing the time taken to release official documents:But the test of our commitment to democracy is not merely the changes we make to the institutions at the centre: it is how far we are prepared to give power away; to give citizens themselves greater control over their lives.That is why citizen empowerment must be at the heart… -
Information Commissioner & Tribunal Decisions course
2 Feb 2010 | 7:04 amThe Campaign for Freedom of Information is running the following half-day training course:'Information Commissioner & Tribunal Decisions- what do they mean in practice?' London 7 June 2010The course, which is aimed at those with a good working knowledge of the legislation, highlights the latest developments in the way the main exemptions, the public interest test and the legislation's procedural requirements are being interpreted.It will cover the most significant decisions that have been issued since our last course in November 2009. The content will therefore vary, depending on the…
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Kentucky Open Government Blog
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Senate passes bills to open legislative finances, associations of local governments
7 Feb 2010 | 8:13 amThe Kentucky Senate last week passed without dissent two bills that would make the actions of state government and associations of local governments more open. The bills are now in the House.Senate Bill 40, sponsored by Republican Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown, would require all state agencies and universities to put their spending records on line by Jan 1, 2011. The bill calls for monthly updates of the amount and description of spending, including any documentation available electronically, for the main databases, while the state's electronic accounting system would be updated weekly.The… -
Mt. Vernon officials violated open meetings law
2 Feb 2010 | 6:23 amThe Mt. Vernon City Council and Mayor Clarice Kirby violated Kentucky's open meetings law, according to a ruling from the office of Attorney General Jack Conway. The opinion issued Jan. 25 said the council had "discussed and voted upon public business during a series of less than quorum meetings by telephone, and the members attending one or more of the meetings collectively constituted a quorum." The council also failed to issue a written response to a complaint about the action submitted to council members by Don Jones. Both are violations of the Kentucky Open Meetings Law.Mayor Kirby was… -
Mississippi journalists fight government secrecy
25 Jan 2010 | 6:07 amThe Rural Blog reports that the Mississippi Press Association, The Associated Press and the state's freedom-of-information center are teaming up in another effort to fight government secrecy. To see the story, go to http://irjci.blogspot.com/. -
AP chief says journalism includes using open-government laws and fighting for better ones
22 Jan 2010 | 2:31 pmUsing freedom-of-information laws and fighting for stronger ones is "journalism by other means" and should be an essential function for journalists, their employers and their membership organizations, Tom Curley, president of The Associated Press, told the Kentucky Press Association today.Keynoting KPA's convention at the Embassy Suites in Lexington, Curley said America's broad body of statutory and case law for open government is "terribly vulnerable" because of changes in the friendly "ecosystem" that has built "this fragile edifice of laws and rules." He said the ecosystem includes news… -
Attorney general approves Hopkinsville council's vague motion for 'appropriate legal action'
20 Jan 2010 | 7:32 amThe Hopkinsville City Council was justified in deliberately leaving vague its motion to take action after a closed discussion because the matter involved legal strategy, the state attorney general's office has ruled.The Kentucky New Era newspaper had complained that the council, which met in closed session to discuss litigation with AT&T, had "violated the spirit and foundation of Kentucky's Open Meetings Act" when it voted only to "take appropriate legal action" following the secret discussion. The attorney general's decision said that while "such a vaguely worded motion might, under a…
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Sunlight Foundation
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Citizens United Part 2 – Lobbyist Disclosure
9 Feb 2010 | 6:48 amSunlight recently developed a seven-point plan for a comprehensive and meaningful disclosure regime in a post-Citizens United political world. John blogged about the first piece of the platform, Independent Expenditures, and today I’ll be focusing lobbying disclosure, which, even before Citizens United, needed to be updated to address the who, what, when, and why a lobbying contact took place. In the wake of Citizens United, real time, online, substantive disclosure becomes even more critical to demonstrate that corporate expenditures are indeed independent and to shed light on whether… -
5 Guiding Principles for a National Transparency Campaign
8 Feb 2010 | 7:23 amSunlight is working with you to build a national campaign that makes government more open and transparent at every level. You can see where we are so far by visiting this page. Be sure to check out the wiki. http://sunlightfoundation.com/campaign We believe that a disaffected, disengaged, cynical public threatens democracy in the United States as few other things can. At its heart, our campaign is about building the political and community clout necessary to combat this problem. We think we can invigorate democracy by coming together, demanding transparency with serious political muscle,… -
Open Government Directive: Looking Forward
7 Feb 2010 | 10:59 amAs Daniel noted, Friday was a big day for the Open Government Directive. On the timeline (WH version) of what the Directive requires, Friday was the deadline for: each agency to post an agency.gov/Open webpage, the White House to post the Open Government Dashboard, and OMB guidance on federal spending transparency. As the White House dashboard makes clear, agencies have posted their /Open pages, along with pages designed for feedback and ideas for open government. (Here’s DOD’s ideascale page, for example.) Most agencies have deployed the Ideascale tool that the GSA helped… -
OGD /Open Pages Come to Life
7 Feb 2010 | 10:13 amMeeting or surpassing the White House’s deadline, the 20 agencies we monitored launched their /open pages by this past Saturday in accordance with the Open Government Directive. (See Sunlight Lab’s /open page tracker; also ProPublica’s transparency tracker). The White House also revealed its Open Government Dashboard, which monitors 29 agencies for compliance with the OGD. The timely creation of this Dashboard fulfills another promise contained in the OGD. What’s notable about the White House’s Dashboard is that it helps hold agencies accountable by identifying… -
Improvements Needed For High Value Datasets On Data.gov
3 Feb 2010 | 9:07 amThis morning a number of organizations — POGO, OMB Watch, CREW, National Security Archive, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Open The Government coalition– and Sunlight sent a letter to Vivek Kundra, Federal CIO, about improvements needed to the release of High Value Datasets on Data.gov. Here are the core recommendations included. Please tell us what you think in the comments below. As advocates for government openness, we support the Administration’s efforts to provide the public with access to information through Data.gov. We are eager to work with you to…
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The Project On Government Oversight
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Morning Smoke: A Quicker, more Nimble SEC?
9 Feb 2010 | 7:43 amS.E.C. Enforcers Focus on Avoiding Madoff Repeat by Jenny Anderson and Zachery Kouwe [The New York Times] Agencies Open to the Public – Some Not So Much by Jennifer LaFleur [ProPublica] No Exit in Sight for U.S. As Fannie, Freddie Flail by Nick Timiraos and James Hagerty [The Wall Street Journal] Judge Questions Bank of America’s New Deal With S.E.C. by Louise Story [The New York Times] Senate bill aims to boost small business contracting by Robert Brodsky [Government Executive] OMB seeks more contracting oversight, insourcing by Elise Castelli [Federal Times] Senate Holds, Filibusters,… -
NRC Needs Nuclear Power Regulators, Not Promoters
8 Feb 2010 | 7:33 amIt’s not often that POGO lobbies to defeat a presidential nominee. However, we have felt called to speak out as loud as we can in opposition to President Obama’s nomination of William Magwood for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the grounds that he does not have the independence from the nuclear power industry to regulate it, nor the security oversight background. Along with two other of the President’s nominees to the NRC, Mr. Magwood will come before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for a confirmation hearing tomorrow. Last week, POGO asked its email… -
Morning Smoke: Senator Places Hold on Obama Nominee to Force Action On Tanker Contract
5 Feb 2010 | 8:46 amAla. senator blocks nominees over Air Force tanker contract by William Matthews [Federal Times] Bank of America E-Mails Show Lehman, Not Merrill Was Buy Target by Linda Sandler [Bloomberg] Mystery Men of the Financial Crisis by William Cohan [The New York Times] Obama's 'Volcker Rule' May Not Survive Congressional Skepticism by Alison Vekshin [Bloomberg] QDR Garners Poor Reviews by Greg Grant [DoD Buzz] Photo by Flickr user photoreb -
The Politics of Contracting: International Edition
4 Feb 2010 | 1:03 pmLast month, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to lift most restrictions on corporate spending in federal elections, a widely condemned decision that many people, including President Obama, want Congress to “correct.” We cynically noted on this blog that not many members of Congress would be willing to give up such a potentially lucrative new source of campaign cash. TPMMuckraker reports that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is one of those lawmakers on Capitol Hill averse to looking a gift horse in the mouth. McConnell is denouncing efforts to correct one of the most troubling consequences of the… -
Morning Smoke: Report Highlights Holes in Money Laundering and Corruption Laws
4 Feb 2010 | 7:52 amLaws, Guns, and Money by Andy Kroll [Mother Jones] Obama budget seeks 13.4 percent increase for National Nuclear Security Administration by Walter Pincus [The Washington Post] Robert Gates: The Survivor by Elizabeth Rubin [Time]Bernanke Vows to Defend Fed Autonomy at Swearing-In Ceremony by Craig Torres [Bloomberg] Geithner Says Bank Fee Can Recoup AIG Bonuses by David Lawder [Reuters] Accountability Time for Contractors? by Daniel Schulman [Mother Jones]DHS Asked to Investigate Air Marshal Allegations by Michael Grabell [ProPublica]Contractors welcome military surge in Afghanistan by…
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WordPress Tag: Open Government
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Denmark Chooses ODF Over OOXML
8 Feb 2010 | 7:32 pmThis is great news (hat tip, Darius Damalakas). Danish government institutions will be using ODF for their documents, not OOXML. Not that there aren’t improvements to be made in ODF-producing and ODF-consuming applications (and the standard itself). Even so, it is gratifying to see user-friendly, constituent-friendly choices being made by government agencies. I wish that American governmental agencies were more concerned about their users and constituents (rather than maintaining a close relationship with a particular vendor). I’m certain that some agencies here would also make… -
Pulling Teeth: San Francisco Power Plant Task Force (PPTF) Meeting Minutes: 10-22-10: "Accidentally" Dropping Specific Taxpayers From E-Mail Lists
8 Feb 2010 | 7:09 amProSF Taxpayers Open Government Archive http://www.scribd.com/Public%20Records%20Information%20Clearinghouse ProSF Taxpayers Open Government Sunshine/CPRA/FOIA News Blog http://www.prosfclearinghouse.wordpress.com Address: 250 Ashbury St.SF94117: E home: Supporting Freedom of Information, Government Transparancy & Accountability. Providing Public Information To The Taxpayers/Residents of the City and County of San Francisco Even Sarah Palin Knows How To Accidentally Drop People From E-Mail Lists… "Have Meg take the news miner off the press release address list for a few days,see… -
BOS Land Use Committee: TODAY: Full Hunters Point Two (2) Plan In Land Use Monday 02-08-10 1pm City Hall Room 263
8 Feb 2010 | 7:01 amProSF Taxpayers Open Government Archive http://www.scribd.com/Public%20Records%20Information%20Clearinghouse ProSF Taxpayers Open Government Sunshine/CPRA/FOIA News Blog http://www.prosfclearinghouse.wordpress.com Address: 250 Ashbury St.SF94117: E home: Supporting Freedom of Information, Government Transparancy & Accountability. Providing Public Information To The Taxpayers/Residents of the City and County of San Francisco From: ENOUGH_BVHP@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ENOUGH_BVHP@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of patnlisa@sbcglobal.net Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 9:29 PM To: SF Bay View;… -
Immediate Disclosure Request For City Administrators Office Public Record Retention POLICY: Received CAO RR & DS TABLE: CAO Disaster Recovery Plan
8 Feb 2010 | 7:01 amProSF Taxpayers Open Government Archive http://www.scribd.com/Public%20Records%20Information%20Clearinghouse ProSF Taxpayers Open Government Sunshine/CPRA/FOIA News Blog http://www.prosfclearinghouse.wordpress.com Address: 250 Ashbury St.SF94117: E home: Supporting Freedom of Information, Government Transparancy & Accountability. Providing Public Information To The Taxpayers/Residents of the City and County of San Francisco From: SFSM lto:mail@csrsf.com] Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 11:46 AM To: ‘Edwin Lee Our SF City Adminstrator’; ‘Norman ("Mayors Office"… -
SF Mayors Office of Criminal Justice: MOCJ SF JUSTIS NSF Files 01-01-06 to 02-05-10 AllTopics: 2 Years MOCJ Chief Calendar: Immediate Disclosure Request
8 Feb 2010 | 6:59 amMayors OffceRecordRetentionAndDestructionSchedule2004.pdf Allen Nance JUSTIS meetings.pdf SF Planning Department NSF File E-Mail Subject Line Directory Index.doc
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Sunlight Labs blog
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DC Gov Builds Amazing Open Gov Dashboard
8 Feb 2010 | 10:57 amOn Saturday, the White House released its Open Government Dashboard. It features a big chart with 29 agencies on it measured by four attributes. I suspect that the technology behind this dashboard is likely an excel file, alongside staffers or interns checking each agency website for compliance. It's a start of something-- but a chart does not a dashboard make. Here in Washington DC, amidst a couple feet of snow (with more on the way), Mayor Fenty released Track, a real way for citizens to watch their government's performance. Both substance wise and technically, it out-atheletes the White… -
Section 508 compliance is still easier than you think
29 Jan 2010 | 11:37 amThis is part two of a two-part post. Part one covers the basics of web standards and progressive enhancement and Section 508 standards §1194.22 (a)-(f). Part two covers Section 508 standards §1194.22 (g)-(p). Good news! Despite the excessive amount of time it took me to finish this post, Section 508 compliance is STILL easier than you think. Compliance does not preclude you from having an amazing web site. By following modern web standards, it is possible to create a site that is inherently accessible. Let's continue where we left off with (g)! Section 508 Guidelines (g) Row and column… -
Data Quality Deserves to be Tackled on Its Own
28 Jan 2010 | 7:47 amLast week Clay wrote about how we'll be evaluating /open pages released under the OGD. The post ended with a series of considerations that we think are important: completeness, primacy, timeliness, accessibility, machine readability, availability without registration, being non-proprietary, freedom from licensing restrictions, permanence and obtainability. One thing is conspicuously missing from the list, though: quality. This isn't by accident. Data quality is something we talk about a lot at Sunlight. The reason is obvious: if the government releases data that is incomplete, erroneous or… -
Real Time Disclosure, Technically Speaking
26 Jan 2010 | 9:57 amLast week's Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision was a game-changer in terms of corporate money in politics. In short, corporations will be allowed to freely spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose a candidate, just as long as there is no direct coordination with that candidate's campaign. Unprecedented amounts of corporate money will now flow into our political process. But here at Sunlight, we're focusing on the disclosure aspects of the decision. The majority opinion stated: With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders… -
FCC's Reboot
22 Jan 2010 | 7:47 amA couple of months ago, as part of our Redesigning the Government series, we took a stab at redesigning and rethinking the FCC website, which resulted in some good discussion between our organizations. Yesterday the FCC released their long awaited Reboot site, which by their definition is an attempt to be “your portal to take part in improving citizen interactions with the Federal Communications Commission”. The questions we've been asking ourselves while evaluating their new site are: what exactly does the above statement mean, what have they done well, and what are the things we…
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FOI Oklahoma
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OU student government rescinds, repasses bill because of possible Open Meeting Act violation
4 Feb 2010 | 4:43 pmThe UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress rescinded and then approved again on Tuesday a bill originally approved last week in a possible violation of the state Open Meeting Act, the University of Oklahoma student newspaper reported today.The Oklahoma Daily had criticized the student legislators for violating the Open Meeting Act. The newspaper had reported that the UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress approved a bill not listed as an item on the group’s agenda in its office.An attorney told the newspaper that the bill was not "new business" because it could have been reasonably foreseen prior… -
Legislators want Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association subject to state FOI laws
4 Feb 2010 | 2:46 pmTwo bills would give the public access to the records and meetings of the non-profit organization that regulates high school sports and other activities such as music, speech and debate competitions in Oklahoma.Senate Bill 1729, filed by Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, would amend the state Open Records Act to specifically name the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association as a public body.That bill is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday before the state Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Laster is a member.SB 1965, filed by Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole, would amend the Open Records… -
Senate committee OKs bills to exempt public employee birth dates, film proposals, stop court clerks from charging more than 25 cents per copy
3 Feb 2010 | 6:39 amThe state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill exempting government employees' dates of birth from the Open Records Act, The Oklahoman reported today.However, the bill's title -- a requirement to become law -- was removed after some committee members expressed concerns about some of the legislation's language, the newspaper said.Senate Bill 1753 next goes to the full Senate for consideration along with two other records-related bills approved by the committee on Tuesday.SB 1351, filed by Sen. David Myers, R-Ponca City, would keep confidential certain film… -
SPJ & NFOIC seek nominees for Open Government Hall of Fame
2 Feb 2010 | 9:50 amThe Society of Professional Journalists and National Freedom of Information Coalition want to "recognize long-term contributions of individuals to open government in their respective states."They are creating a Heroes of the 50 States: The State Open Government Hall of Fame.Other groups also want to recognize those who've fought for the public's right to know at the state and local level.The American Society of News Editors is seeking nominees to identify the top three Local Heroes of 2010 who fought tirelessly last year to make their state or local public institutions more open and… -
National Sunshine Week contest to honor 'Local Heroes' of open government
29 Jan 2010 | 12:58 pmThe American Society of News Editors is seeking nominees to identify the top three Local Heroes of 2010 who fought tirelessly last year to make their state or local public institutions more open and accessible.FOI Oklahoma Inc. also is seeking nominations for its annual awards recognizing individuals and organizations that promote the free flow of information to the public.Both sets of awards are part of the national Sunshine Week celebration March 14 - 19.The deadline for nominations in the national contest is Feb. 26. ASNE encourages local media and civic organizations to nominate one of…
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BBC: Open Secrets
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Only sixteen months to go
5 Feb 2010 | 4:20 amThe Arts Council England has rejected a freedom of information request from the BBC - because it intends to publish the material by sixteen months from now. My colleague Julia Ross asked the Council for some data relating to A Night Less Ordinary, their scheme for providing free theatre tickets to people under 26 at selected venues in England. The Arts Council turned down her FOI application about the scheme's cost and the characteristics of those participating in it on the grounds that it "intends to publish this information by June 2011". Under the UK FOI Act requests can be dismissed if… -
Westland: The wait goes on
3 Feb 2010 | 1:01 amThe government has decided to fight the information commissioner's instruction to release the minutes of the controversial cabinet meeting in 1986 which was disrupted by Michael Heseltine suddenly walking out and resigning from Margaret Thatcher's administration. As I reported a month ago, the commissioner backed my freedom of information request for these minutes on the basis that releasing them would help remove uncertainties over historical events. But the Cabinet Office has now appealed against this judgement to the Information Rights Tribunal, which will hear the case in the next few… -
Alternative voting systems for choosing a voting system
2 Feb 2010 | 2:29 amGordon Brown is announcing today his plans for a referendum on electoral reform for UK general elections. I therefore thought I should revive a post of mine from last year (with some corrections to its flaws in terminology, for which thanks to commenters). And apologies again for it being a little off-topic (although it could at least be argued in my defence here that freedom of information and electoral systems are both aspects of constitutional reform). So if there is to be a UK referendum on voting systems, what should be the actual voting system for that referendum? Or to put it another… -
Climate data: Why ministers refused to change the law
28 Jan 2010 | 4:24 amThe latest development in the saga of the climate change e-mails has put freedom of information (FOI) back on the front pages - and focused new attention on one of the FOI Act's problems, the issue of enforcement. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has decided that the University of East Anglia did not properly handle requests for material held by its Climatic Research Unit. Under section 77 of the FOI Act, it is an offence to intentionally prevent the disclosure of information to which an FOI applicant is entitled. But action has to be initiated within six months of the offence… -
MOT failure rates released
12 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pmThe government agency which oversees the MOT system has backed down after 18 months and released data which shows how often different makes and models of cars and small vans fail MOTs. This means that car and van buyers will now have access to the detailed MOT records of individual models, including reasons for failures. The figures show wide variation between different models, even when comparing vehicles of the same age. In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll…
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Secrecy News
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Senate Holds, Filibusters, and the “Nuclear” Option
8 Feb 2010 | 10:23 amLast week, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) placed a “hold” on all of the Obama Administration nominations that are pending before the Senate, thereby preventing a vote on their confirmation. There are said to be at least 70 such nominations awaiting Senate action, including those of several senior defense and intelligence officials. Sen. Shelby, a man of flexible principles who has served as both a Democrat and a Republican, reportedly adopted the blanket holds in an attempt to compel the Administration to award certain defense contracts to his home state of Alabama. Shelby’s… -
Congressional Profiles
8 Feb 2010 | 10:19 amSeveral recent reports from the Congressional Research Service provide descriptive profiles of the present and past composition of Congress by race, ethnicity, gender, education, religion and occupation (all pdf). “Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile,” February 4, 2010. “Women in the United States Congress: 1917-2009,” December 23, 2009. “Asian Pacific Americans in the United States Congress,” February 1, 2010. “African-American Members of the United States Congress: 1870-2009,” February 2, 2010. -
CRS on Al Qaeda Affiliates, Rum Taxes
8 Feb 2010 | 10:17 amNew reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (pdf): “Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence, and Implications for U.S. Policy,” February 5, 2010. “The Rum Excise Tax Cover-Over: Legislative History and Current Issues,” January 20, 2010. -
Limiting Knowledge in a Democracy
5 Feb 2010 | 7:18 amIn testimony this week before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair declared unequivocally that Al Qaeda would attempt to attack the United States within the next six months. “The priority is certain, I would say,” he told the Committee. This recalls nothing so much as the startling August 6, 2001 item in the President’s Daily Brief (PDB) that was entitled “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US” (pdf). But the 2001 warning to President Bush was classified at the highest possible level and remained secret for years… -
Twitter in Congress, and More from CRS
5 Feb 2010 | 7:16 amSome new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not previously been made available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Social Networking and Constituent Communications: Member Use of Twitter During a Two-Month Period in the 111th Congress,” February 3, 2010. “Metropolitan Transportation Planning,” February 3, 2010. “Veterans Health Care: Project HERO Implementation,” February 3, 2010.
