Rhode Island's quasi-public agencies, such as the RI Airport Corporation, RI Resource Recovery Corporation, RIPTA, the RI Turnpike and Bridge Authority and more than a dozen more, perform essential government functions and provide essential services. Equally important as the work they do is their accountability to the public.
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Read More… from Legislation promotes transparent, accountable, effective government
The Pennsylvania Senateís passage last month of SB 444, amending the stateís Right to Know law, was far from a shining example of representative government working in the peopleís best interest.
The vote ó 50-0 ó was instead an inexcusable exercise favoring the government's interest over that of citizens' right to know, proving again that public transparency is the last thing on lawmakers'minds.
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Gov. Terry Branstad on Thursday proposed creating a Government Accountability Portal to make state government more open, transparent and accountable to Iowa citizens. Branstad said the new entity would be a 'one-stop shop' housed within the Iowa Public Information Board for Iowans to register comments, concerns, questions or suggestions regarding state government and its operations.
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Read More… from IA Gov Branstad proposes expanded government accountability
The NSA doesn't like leaks that much. But it does like leaks when it chooses to leak, as then it gets to exert influence over the media, and thus potentially shape the public narrative. And as we have variously learned, not everything initially marked TOP SECRET//COMINT//NO FORN needs to stay that way.
But that doesn't mean to say that the NSA, which has a requirement to inform Congress when it leaks certain information, wants you to know what it has leaked, and what has otherwise managed to find its way out on its own.
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Read More… from The NSA Won’t Disclose What It Leaked To The Public
Too many public entities are violating Missouriís open-government laws by meeting in closed sessions without giving a good reason or by discussing things behind closed doors that they shouldnít be, the state auditor said Tuesday.
Auditor Tom Schweich said about 15 percent of the nearly 300 audits he conducted over the previous two years found some sort of violation of Missouri's open-meetings-and-records laws. Thatís an improvement from the 19 percent problem rate for Sunshine law compliance during audits conducted in 2010 and 2011, he said.
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Read More… from Missouri auditor: Local goverments have too many closed meetings
Well before Edward Snowden leaked documents about the National Security Administration's massive domestic-surveillance program, the American Civil Liberties Union sought clues through the Freedom of Information Act about how government interpreted its spying powers.
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Read More… from Support for Spying Kept Secret, Despite Uncle Sam’s Bad Faith
he Knight Foundation Tuesday announced a $1.8 million investment in the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships Program at Stanford University for a series of new initiatives, including the establishment of a workshop on transformative news leadership.
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Read More… from Knight Fellowship Program to create workshop for top editors and publishers
An important survey from the Associated Press lays out in detail just how the Obama administration limits access to public information. As we face a new war in the Middle East, a dangerous outbreak of a virulent disease and a number of political scandals, itís more important than ever that American citizens ó and American voters ó to have access to information.
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The Internal Revenue Service failed to comply with Freedom of Information Act requirements for about 11 percent of the requests it received for information, according to a new report.
The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, comes at a sensitive time for both the IRS and the Inspector General's office, when both face lawsuits from conservative watchdog groups over their failure to turn over emails and other information related to the scandal involving applications for tax-exempt status.
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Read More… from IRS Faulted for Compliance with Freedom of Information Act Requests
York County's Board of Supervisors is considering changing how it applies the state's Freedom of Information Act, including increasing fees for copies of the county's zoning ordinance and Yorktown design guidelines.
FOIA gives residents access to public records and will be discussed during the board's work session at 6 p.m. Tuesday at York Hall, according to board's agenda.
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