From OMB Watch:
The fiscal year 2012 spending package signed by President Obama on Dec. 23 included some good news for government transparency and right to know. Many of the worst provisions of the bill were removed from the final compromise, but open government advocates remain concerned.
The Budget Control Act, passed to end the debt ceiling hostage crisis in August, capped total funding for fiscal year (FY) 2012, but Congress continued to struggle over specific allocations for programs and the slew of conservative policy riders attached by the House, which made compromise with the Senate difficult. To avoid a government shutdown or another stopgap spending bill, Congress had to rush to finalize the funding bill (H.R. 2055) before the holidays in a cramped and opaque process.