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
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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Broadband and Civic Participation
As part of the economic stimulus package passed in February, Congress gave the Commerce Department up to $7.2 billion to dole out in grants that promote universal high speed internet access. The legislation also required the Federal Communications Commission to submit a national broadband plan to Congress by February 17, 2010, that will “ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability.”
One of the many issues the FCC’s plan is required to address is the use of broadband infrastructure and services to advance civic participation. In April, the FCC asked for comments on what such a broadband plan should look like. A first round of comments was due by June 8, 2009, with a second round of comments due by July 7, 2009.
The Sunlight Foundation submitted comments on what a national broadband plan should look like, focusing on the relationship between increased broadband access and civic participation.
We argue that “changes in how (and what) we can communicate, and the speed with which we can do so, will profoundly reshape our democracy. Universal broadband access, ever-increasing bandwidth, and respect for the basic principles underpinning the internet, such as privacy and network neutrality, will result in greater civic involvement in our democracy and stronger connections to one another.” Increasing government transparency will further catalyze civic participation.
Even with sufficient bandwidth, however, “all users must be able to access the internet,” including those with the least financial means and those living in rural areas.
Read the full comment below.
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Obama’s Stimulus Lobbying Rules: The Movie
With all of the discussion about President Obama’s new rules on stimulus lobbying, I have put together a short video that explains the regulations. (The presentation, without audio commentary and in higher resolution, is available here.) As a bonus, I’ve included a handy chart that briefly reviews when the rules apply; and a link to a possible loophole in the rules.
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Accountability for Government Spending
A week ago, I blogged about the launch of the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR). The coalition (of which Sunlight is a member) formed to promote accountability for the federal government agencies doling out the trillions of dollars, for the states and for the companies that benefit from recovery funds. CAR’s vision for a national system to collect and disseminate data on government spending is here (pdf).
It’s worth delving into that document. Its bottom line: CAR is calling for online reporting that allows the public to easily search, sort, track and download data on the use of funds from the massive Stimulus Bill.
The document proposes USASpending.gov, the federal Web site that discloses information about nearly all government spending, as the “data house” for the Recovery Act (and other government) spending. But as Greg Elin, Sunlight’s chief evangelist, in a comment to my blog, wrote, that might not be enough: “Spending from the Stimulus package will show up in USASpending.gov, but only at the federal contract level.”
Clearly a system needs to be in place to track the spending and all of its impacts. We should be able to know what’s happening with the money at all levels and all stages. Thus far, Congress has been far too vague about what it expects the online sites to provide. And we want to make sure we end up with a system that provides the most transparency and accountability as possible.
Be sure to check CAR.
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Rasmussen: Americans Believe Congress in the Dark Over Stimulus Contents
On Tuesday, Rasmussen Reports released a telephone survey that shows the Americans have strong doubts about whether congressional lawmakers understand the content of the Stimulus Bill show prior to voting on it. According to the survey, which included the views of 1,000 likely voters contacted over Sunday and Monday, 58 percent of U.S. voters say most lawmakers will not understand what is in the plan before they vote on it. Only 24 percent believe most of Congress understands the contents of the 700-page-plus plan before they vote, with 19 percent not sure.
On one level this is really depressing. On the other, it’s probably an optimistic reading of the situation. How can members of Congress, much less the public, be expected to read, digest, and understand a bill of this complexity without having time to do it!? It’s ridiculous.
Sunlight has long advocated that all legislation be posted online for at least 72 hours before consideration in the House and Senate. This is a very simple, common sense idea: Posting bills online for 72 hours before consideration would give lawmakers and citizens alike an opportunity to consider and debate bills with full knowledge and consideration of the implications of the legislation with considered feedback from the public.
Please join us in asking President Obama to post the final Stimulus Bill on WhiteHouse.gov for five days before he signs it. (It looks like Congress will ignore our call to post it online before their consideration.) Go to the White House’s contact form to urge President Obama to post the final bill as approved by the House and Senate on WhiteHouse.gov. Please do it today, as this bill is moving very quickly.
Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.
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We Need Online Review of Stimulus Legislation
The Sunlight Foundation has long advocated that all legislation be posted online for at least 72 hours before final consideration. We believe that the consideration of the Stimulus Bill should not be an exception. While there is currently no formal requirement to do so, the House and Senate should each ensure that lawmakers and citizens alike have at least 72 hours of online access to the Stimulus Bill before its final consideration.
Further, because the scope and public import of this legislation demand a measured and transparent process we strongly urge President Obama to post the enrolled version of the bill on WhiteHouse.gov for five days before signing it, in accordance with his campaign promise. While access and feedback from the public after final passage is not as effective as providing online availability of legislation before final passage, it would still give the public an opportunity to make their views known to the president.
It is impossible for lawmakers to read, much less fully evaluate, any complex legislation that is hundreds of pages long in the few short hours they often have between the time they first see a bill until final consideration. Worse, citizens may not have access to legislation until after it has been voted on, too late for them to have a meaningful response to legislation that may directly affect their lives.
Online access to legislation for at least 72 hours before consideration should be universally adopted by both chambers of Congress. Legislation of such magnitude needs the scrutiny of both legislators and American citizens.
UPDATE: Please join us in telling President Obama to post the final Stimulus Bill on WhiteHouse.gov for five days before he signs it. (It looks like Congress will ignore our call to post it online before their consideration.) Go to the White House’s contact form to urge President Obama to post the final bill as approved by the House and Senate on WhiteHouse.gov. Please do it today, as this bill is moving very quickly.
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StimulusWatch.org
StimulusWatch.org is set to launch today as a way to help the Obama administration keep its pledge and to hold public officials accountable on how they spend taxpayer dollars with the stimulus bill. The site encourages citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed “shovel-ready” projects in their city to find, discuss and rate those projects.
You can search projects, browse by locality or program type. Once you’ve found a project, they ask you to do three things: 1) vote on whether you believe the project is critical or not; 2) edit the project’s description and points in favor or against, and 3) post a comment in the conversation about the project.
The force behind StimulusWatch is Jerry Brito, a senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. He developed the site with the help of volunteers. Jerry is also a principal at The Technology Liberation Front.
This is very well done. I strongly suggest you check it out.
Update: One of my far more knowledgeable colleagues played around on Stimulus Watch and found it, they thought, somewhat misleading and prone to gaming. For example, it only provides one word descriptions for the funding items — one is simply labeled “doorbells.” Without any context, the commentators are jumping all over such items, voting them down. One of my other colleagues says that the site has lots of holes in the information, e.g. no information from county governments, and nothing from, for example, Richmond, Virginia whose Mayor didn’t submit a list.
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Stimulus Bill Amendments
The House Rules Committee approved amendments for consideration during the floor debate on the stimulus bill (H.R. 1). There are a couple which would be important to enact. They are:
Amndt. 22 (Platts/Van Hollen): Would insert the text of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (H.R. 985 in the 110th Congress) regarding protections for federal employees who report waste, fraud, and abuse.
Amndt. 89 (Teague): Would require that the Recovery.gov website contain links and other information on how to access job information created at or by entities receiving funding under the bill; including links to local employment agencies, state, local, and other public agencies receiving recovery funds, and private firms contracted to perform work funded by the bill.
The Whisteblower Protection Enhancement Act was introduced in the 110th Congress and would extend and enhance protection for whistleblowers reporting on national security, science, and contractor waste and fraud. The protections include contractors who are whistleblowers. The details are available here.
The Teague amendment gets at something that is often overlooked when discussing transparency and web sites like Recovery.gov. The site should not only serve as a place for openness and accountability regarding the programs and projects authorized in the stimulus bill, but should also aim to serve the public that the programs and projects intend to aid. The requirement in the Teague amendment would provide an immediate service of helping the job-seeking unemployed connect to jobs created by the bill. This can’t be overlooked as service provision, along with information dissemination, must be an important aspect of government web sites.
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Stimulus Bill Transparency
Sunlight’s Bill Allison was on Brian Lehrer Live discussing efforts to put the proposed stimulus bill online and in a searchable format. Watch the video:
Republicans Favoring Increased Transparency for Obama Spending Bill from Brian Lehrer Live on Vimeo.
