NFOIC’s FOI Friday for March 30, 2012

A few open government and FOIA news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier.

Text messages enter public-records debate

Those supposedly private messages that public officials dash off on their government cellphones to friends and colleagues aren't necessarily private after all.

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Join the Open NDAA Campaign

From Open NDAA

Imagine that someone is put in charge of your personal budget, and authorizes all of your spending money for food, clothes, rent and fun. Now, imagine that person decides your budget in secret, without taking any input from you. Sounds like a terrible idea, right?

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Georgia Senate OKs Open Records Law Overhaul

From GPB News

ATLANTA—State lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that would introduce the first major changes to the state’s open meetings and records act in a decade. It would stiffen penalties for agencies that withhold open records and boards that hold meetings in secret.

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White House to petitioners: We ARE listening

From NextGov

The Obama administration takes petitions posted to its We the People website seriously and during weekly meetings discusses responses to those that cross the 25,000-signature threshold, officials said in a response and video posted Thursday.

The White House launched We the People in September, touting it as a one-stop shop for citizens to petition the federal government and as part of the Obama administration's larger commitment to open government.

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San Diego company will handle online voting for Colorado residents, military personnel living overseas

From San Diego Union-Tribune

Everyone Counts, a San Diego company that provides online voting technology, has been selected by the Colorado Secretary of State to implement a new ballot delivery system to serve military personnel and other overseas voters.

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GSA OIG, Office of Government Ethics Taking Steps Towards Open Government

From Project on Government Oversight

POGO recently learned about two agencies that are promoting an open government agenda that will help the public learn more about contractors and government officials.

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Halliburton wins praise from open-government groups for commitment to political disclosure

From The Houston Chronicle

This is news: Halliburton is being praised — yes, praised! — by political watchdog groups. The Houston-based multinational corporation, which has been blasted for a decade by liberals and good government groups for its close ties to the White House and the Pentagon, is now being held up as a model of openness.

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