Sunlight Foundation

Making Government Transparent and Accountable

The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government

• One More Thing on Stevens

  By Paul Blumenthal on 07/29/08 @ 5:27 pm | 0 Comments

  Sen. Ted Stevens released a statement in which he declares his innocence and vows to fight the charges. He also stepped down his posts as ranking member of both the Commerce Committee and the Appropriations Committee.

  For some background on Sen. Stevens, I wanted to point out the utility of Sunlight’s Lawmaker Profile, which you can access through the front page of our web site. I was just toying around with Sen. Stevens’ profile and got this telling image of a cloud of his top ten career contributors:

  

  $88,000 from VECO, the company that he is alleged to have received gifts from, and which he is said to have done favors for.

  You can also dig into his personal finances, earmarks, and contracts through this tool.

  

• Lawmaker Profiler on Politiker.com

  By Ellen Miller on 06/25/08 @ 11:51 am | 0 Comments

  On Monday, the New York Observer installed the new version of Sunlight’s Lawmaker Profiler on their politics section. They even made an ad for it. Scroll down to the bottom of the right-hand sidebar and you’ll see the ad, and link to LP.

  This new tool from Sunlight — the Lawmaker Profiler — offers, on a single Web page, data from multiple sources that provide in-depth, at-a-glance information on the actions of and influences on every member of Congress. It can be tailored to your Congressional delegation.

  This is now available for anyone to use. You can find another version of it on MinnPost, and still another one on this blog. Let us know and we’ll let you know how to install it too.

  

• Local Sunlight

  By Nisha Thompson on 02/28/08 @ 3:57 pm | 0 Comments

  

  This week I have highlights from Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Florida and Minnesota.

  Oregon’s Earmark Blog posts a CRS report about the Executive Order restricting state agencies from considering earmarks not found in the historical texts of bills. Another example of how useful and informative CRS reports are.
  

  S.D. Watch posted a press release from South Dakota’s Secretary of State Chris Nelson. The press release states that the secretary of state has updated their website to include a free, searchable database of corporate records.

  South Texas Chisme posted about how the Harris County government is looking into closing a loophole that allows high ranking officials to not include personal financial information that could cause a conflict of interest.

  In Louisiana, Between the Lines, has a post on new ethics reform legislation going through the state senate. The legislation would limit gifts and meals from lobbyists and is being opposed by many lawmakers because it was cause hardship to their legislative life.

  KentuckyPolitics.org highlights the Kentucky Senate passing legislation that would require Section 527 groups to disclose their contributions.

  Florida’s The Buzz, highlights how the Florida House is now wireless. “Anyone with a wireless-capable computer can pick up a signal now in committee rooms, public areas, etc. No registration is necessary, says Jill Chamberlin, spokeswoman for House Speaker Marco Rubio.” Kudos to you Florida House.

  In Minnesota, MinnPost, is using Sunlight’s new Lawmaker Profiler. The Profiler allows you to find campaign contributions, earmarks, federal contracts, and lobbyist expenditures that are associated with a member of Congress. It is a great tool for any blogger or news organization who wants a new innovative way to see congressional data.