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Here are a few transparency updates from around the nation.
* ILLINOIS: The buy propecia online started an to display “Strategy, help and stories about getting public information in Illinois”. Good move from the Trib, since Chicago’s Mayor Daley .
Another IL piece worth reading is the . It mentions that Mill Creek Special Service Area is “absolutely deficient” when graded on the standards set forth in the .
* MICHIGAN: The Clare Sentinel published an excellent letter to the editor titled, “.” The letter demonstrates that school transparency is much easier than most people think. It takes just minutes per day!
* OKLAHOMA: , a fiscal watchdog group, lamented the lack of county transparency in the Sooner State, and regarding school districts.
* TENNESSEE: Governor Phil Bredesen , , that increases transparency by listing vendor payments and employee travel reimbursements and salaries.
* FEDERAL: President Obama is . According to the Heritage Foundation, these regulations make union officials more accountable to union members and deter fraud and embezzlement.
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has picked up on the growing movement towards school transparency. Our friends at the are asking all 551 Michigan schools to post their budgets and check registers online through their “Show Michigan the Money” program. Kenneth Braun, director of the project, explained the goal of this initiative:
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According to Sunshine Review, school districts should have the following on their websites:
- Budget
- School district government meetings/agendas
- Elected officials of the school district
- School district administrators
- Lobbying/advocacy
- Access to government records and public documents
- Contracts with teachers and support staff
- Contracts with vendors
- Tax burden
- Criminal background checks
- Academic performance
The own Paul Miller also had a good point in the article:
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Let us know if you are interested in helping out with the project on Sunshine Review. Volunteers are building new articles every day to help make our government more transparent, more accountable, and ultimately more effective.
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reached an important milestone recently, and we’re in the mood to celebrate!
The Sunshine Review community has evaluated the level of transparency of official government websites for all 3,140 counties in the United States. Sunshine Review’s is now being utilized by government agencies all over the country as a guideline as they create and implement transparency projects. Watchdog groups, journalists, and public policy organizations are turning to Sunshine Review as their go-to source when measuring government transparency.
We owe a big thank you to our online community of sunshine volunteer contributors, citizens who use Sunshine Review to check up on their government, journalists and bloggers who write about our work, and our financial supporters.
Now, onward to the !
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Colorado SB 57, sponsored by Republican state senator Ted Harvey, would have required schools to post their spending reports online in a searchable database. Revolutionary? No. A good idea? You bet.
Unfortunately, Democrats didn’t think so, and it went down in the House Education committee in a party-line vote, 8-5. According to the , education associations contributed the following amounts to the committee members:
*Name of Rep – Total Amount from Education Lobby Organizations – Vote on SB 57
*Randy Baumgardner – $0 – Yes
*Debbie Benefield – $6,975 – No
*Tom Massey – $500 – Yes
*Michael Merrifield – $5,250 – No
*Karen Middleton – $3,125 – No
*Carole Murray – $0 – Yes
*Cherylin Peniston – $4750 – No
*Kevin Priola – $0 – Yes
*Christine Scanlan – $5,000 – No
*Sue Schafer – $5,750 – No
*Ken Summers – $0 – Yes
*Nancy Todd – $4,650 – No
*Judy Solano – $5,750- No
So do you think those contributions made a difference?
This is an embarrassment to Colorado. Shame, shame, shame on the reps that didn’t vote for open government during SUNSHINE WEEK of all times. I am guessing the voters in your districts may reward you with a similar “no” vote in your next election.
You can read all of the twists and turns at .
More on the education lobby’s strategy against SB 57 at the .
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Here is more Sunshine Week shenanigans:
* buy propecia online- updated their study to show the real costs of education, using standard accounting practices. A study of FY2007 found that taxpayers spent more than $6.5 billion on Oklahoma’s public education system, or $10,942 per pupil. This kind of study is necessary because of the to base per-pupil spending on an average of its neighboring states. Real numbers are necessary to give voters correct information on how much of their money is going towards schools. ()
* buy propecia online- pointed out examples of abuses of the Freedom of Information Act and open meetings laws. The editorial ended with this: “We hope that Sunshine Week encourages an ongoing effort to ensure information about how tax dollars are used by government is always accessible and that the public’s business is always conducted in public.” also opined for more sunshine.
More again tomorrow.
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Well, kids, it’s Sunshine Week, which means every news outlet is putting a spotlight on transparency. Here’s a little round-up mix of preachy editorials, investigative work, and updates on what some of my fellow groups are doing to open up this musty government of ours.
* buy propecia online- The Minnesota Freedom Foundation wrote an printed in the Duluth News Tribune that praised work to build a statewide transparency database, but pointed out some very disturbing trends. These concerns include groups circumventing open meetings laws by hosting “workshops”, restricting or banning coverage of the legislature by old and new media outlets, withholding draft documents (including budgets) from the public, and banning citizens from recording government meetings.
* buy propecia online- Attorney General Mike Cox hosted an on the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. He said when there is less money to go around, people want to make sure it is being spent wisely.
* buy propecia online- Marta Mossburg from the wrote about some ideas for greater local transparency.
* buy propecia online- The highlighted a few important transparency activists throughout the country, including the creator of , which is now a portal on Sunshine Review.
More of these tomorrow.
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When is a government website NOT a government website? Michael Quinn Sullivan from reports:
In difficult economic times, transparency is an easy answer to make sure taxpayers are getting enough bang for their buck. Groups like , , and are doing their part to remind government officials of that priority.
Related: Check out website.
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Just when I think Illinois is finally on the right track, I take a quick look at the headlines and my hopes are dashed. What’s today’s news? Well, pork and hidden information.
The in the federal budget have finally been released. In my opinion, these are among the most outrageous:
* $237,500 for the repair and restoration of the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet
* $95,000 for History Makers, Chicago, for a digitization project
* $49,000 for security cameras for Jasper County School District
* $47,500 for the Easter Seals’s playground expansion and remodeling project in Ottawa
* $900,000 for astronomy equipment in Adler Adler Planetarium ()
* $786,000 for salaries and expenses for crop production and food processing in Peoria
* $2,077,000 for salaries and expenses for National Center for Food Safety and Technology
Let me say this: I am fundamentally against earmarks. However, I understand they were the grease in the wheels of Obama’s budget legislation. I get it. What I DON’T get is why my tax dollars are funding theaters, digitization projects, security cameras for a with 3300 students, playgrounds, astronomy equipment, salaries, and operational expenses. Local projects should be funded with local money. State projects should be in the regular budget of its parent agency. If a congressman has ideas on how to prioritize, he or she should sit down with agency staff and have those discussions.
And… as if the pork isn’t enough, is refusing to release audit findings and financial reports of a trust fund believed to be worth $300 million. The fund used to be administered by the Illinois Funeral Directors Association (IFDA), but was taken over by the comptroller’s office. Funeral directors fear financial mismanagement will leave them on the hook for millions of dollars. The :
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Why won’t Hynes release the documents? Well, his financial information officer says it’s that pesky that doesn’t mandate their release. This subterfuge is twice as frustrating when a person realizes that Hynes has been in Illinois for putting a contracts/campaign contribution database online. In fact, , Hynes states:
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has an idea of how to go about that.
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I’m glad someone gets it.
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Oklahoma Senator is a known crusader against wasteful, secret, and pork-barrel spending and earmarks. He did the nation a favor this week when he posted an section on his website.
Interesting facts about this legislation:
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According to CBO, the omnibus will cost $410 billion, $32 billion (8.4%) more than FY 2008 spending. The legislation is 1,128 pages long. Each page is equal to $363 million in spending.buy propecia online
• $19 billion (4.9%) more than President Bush’s request
• $19 billion (4.9% more than the cost of extending the continuing resolution
• $32 billion (8.4%) more than last yearbuy propecia online
Total omnibus earmarks: 8,570
Total cost: $7.7 billionThe three previously enacted FY 2009 spending bills included a total of 2,321 earmarks, costing $6.6 billion.
Total FY 2009 earmarks: 10,891
Total FY 2009 earmark spending: $14.3 billion
Good grief.
H/T: - compiled
Also… as a plug for our friends at , Senator Coburn is the keynote speaker at a . I hope you will join me in supporting American Majority’s mission of recruiting activists that believe in fiscal restraint. Sen. Coburn could use some back-up!
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