DEP’s New Public Comment Policy Enhances Public Participation, Transparency

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced improvements for public participation and transparency through a new online engagement system. DEP's new online eComment system allows the public to more easily access Technical Guidance Documents and other policy-related proposals open for comment. The public can also view all support documentation, submit comments online, and view the full text of all public comments submitted.

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Rhode Island Pension Transparency: ‘Still A Long Way To Go’

Rhode Island Treasurer Seth Magaziner, a former financial executive elected in 2014, has announced a landmark proposal to increase transparency at the state’s pension fund. Unlike dozens of states around the country, Rhode Island will now disclose the full range of fees and expenses it pays to investment managers and will fully disclose those managers’ performance.

“It really comes down to a basic principle,” said Magaziner, who announced the proposal Tuesday. “When you're managing public funds, the public has the right to know.”

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Judge Orders Monthly Release of Clinton Emails

In response to a State Department proposal to incrementally release former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails every two months, a federal judge ordered Wednesday that the department instead disclose them every 30 days.

Justice Department lawyers representing the State Department offered in a Tuesday court filing to start posting Clinton’s emails on the department’s Freedom of Information Act website on June 30, with “rolling productions” made public every 60 days.

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Time for transparency in government

Congress is currently considering changes to improve the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and that’s a good thing. While the FOIA is very useful, it’s not a silver bullet, and it’s certainly time to consider improving the Act.

During the course of the Obama Administration, Americans for Limited Government has filed hundreds of FOIA requests going to every Executive Branch department and many of the independent agencies.

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Transparency critics are peddling public ignorance to ‘fix’ government

Hang around the nation's capital long enough and inevitably even the most grizzled newsroom veteran reads something so utterly wrong that he is left speechless.

Such a moment arrived for this ink-stained wretch Thursday while reading a Washington Post op-ed by Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet. His piece included this declaration about post-Watergate reforms designed to bring government out from behind closed doors:

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