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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Read More… from Georgia Senate OKs Open Records Law Overhaul
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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Read More… from White House to petitioners: We ARE listening
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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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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Read More… from GSA OIG, Office of Government Ethics Taking Steps Towards Open Government
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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From Daily Bulletin
Ten local school districts have been asked to provide copies of complaints of teacher misconduct and records of any actions taken as a result of such conduct.
The Public Records Act requests, sent last week by The Sun and the Daily Bulletin, follow queries sent last month to 19 school districts seeking the number of complaints of teacher misconduct in the last five years.
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Redding intends to keep under wraps a pair of investigative reports on mismanagement and hostile workplace allegations in the electric utility's customer service department.
On Monday, a Los Angeles law firm representing the city denied the Record Searchlight's request for the reports dating to 2008, saying they are exempt from public disclosure because they are part of personnel records.
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Read More… from Redding denies records request for REU investigative reports
From Sunshine Review
Literally, New Jersey just got 600 more websites transparent. A law passed this last January is requiring 600 local entities, such as water utilities, port authorities and county park commissions, to provide budgets, audit reports, meeting dates, contacts and other information on the Internet.
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Read More… from New Jersey just got 600 more websites transparent
From The Journal News
The public’s right to know how government operates — and how it spends taxpayers’ money — supersedes local laws that pledge “confidentiality” and aim to protect the “privacy” of public officials.
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Read More… from Editorial: More local compliance on FOI laws needed
From Savethenews.org
Earlier this month, we issued a challenge to our members. We asked them to take a day off from work, visit their local television stations and … rifle through their filing cabinets.
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