It took a liberal policy group, ProgressVA, to accomplish through public shaming what good-government advocates in Virginia have failed to accomplish over the years through reasoned arguments and rational discussions: force the Virginia General Assembly to take action that opens up the legislative process.
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Read More… from Virginia’s baby steps toward transparency (editorial)
Proponents of legislative reforms to improve South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act didn’t get everything they had hoped for in the bill that passed on the last day of the session. But the bill came close, and it should be regarded as a victory for open government and citizens’ ability to gain access to public information.
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Read More… from South Carolina Public records law was a step forward (Editorial)
By Daniel Bevarly, Executive Director, NFOIC
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It’s optimistic to believe that this (or really any) legislative session in Virginia will make a turn toward openness and away from punching holes in the law that ensures public access to documents and meetings.
But maybe, just maybe, this could be a session where lawmakers choose to hold the line on those principles and act with deference toward the people’s right to know.
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Read More… from Virginian-Pilot editorial: Be a force for openness in government
A $1 million grant from the Craig Newmark Foundation, the charitable organization established by Craigslist Founder Craig Newmark, to the Poynter Institute addresses one of the thornier dilemmas arising from the recent election—how newsrooms should identify and respond to "fake news."
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Read More… from Philanthropist Craig Newmark Joining the Fight Against “Fake News”
Puerto Rico’s new governor has signed an executive order creating a new public affairs and public policy secretary position that will be responsible for drawing up proposed legislation similar to the Freedom of Information Act that has long been enforced in the U.S. mainland.
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Read More… from Puerto Rico governor pursues freedom of information law
State regulators and an organization that proposes workers’ compensation coverage rates in Florida defended themselves in pleadings to a state appeals court this week, seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that they had violated open-government laws.
Attorneys for the National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, submitted their arguments in a brief filed Wednesday with the 1st District Court of Appeal. The state office of Insurance Regulation is also a party to the suit, filed by Miami workers’ compensation attorney James Fee.
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Read More… from Ratings agency warns in brief against ‘dramatic expansion’ of Florida’s Sunshine Law
A long-running legal battle over the governor’s decision to deny a 2014 open-records request was resolved in Pence’s favor by a three-judge panel.
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Read More… from Indiana Judge holds former Gov. Pence to open-records law
The executive director of the state Committee on Open Government really took to heart Sen. Brad Hoylman’s Friday request for an “expedited” advisory opinion on the question of whether or not the state Senate’s new rule barring the use of cellphones as audio, video or photographic recording devices within the chamber and its public galleries without the permission of the Senate secretary violates the state’s Open Meeting Law.
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Read More… from Transparency committee: N.Y. Senate cellphone ban violates Open Meetings Law
Two of Gov. Kate Brown’s top staffers stepped down last week following news reports that employment they held outside of her office could compromise their work for the government.
The governor’s spokespeople argued the assertions were baseless as the story played out. And since the resignations were confirmed, they haven’t acknowledged what might have been learned. What’s so dismaying is how familiar it feels.
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Read More… from Oregon Gov. Brown owes public more transparency in ethics issues
