Transparency News 10/22/18

Monday
October 22, 2018

You can smile on VCOG when you shop on Amazon. Click here!

state & local news stories

After paying $10,000 for a chance to get in on the ground floor of Virginia’s emerging medical marijuana industry, some business groups have pressed state officials for more information about why they didn’t make the cut. So far, they’re not having much luck. The board has also refused to answer questions about recent developments involving two of the winning applicants, including confusion over one planned dispensary’s connection to a Bristol casino project and the sale of one of the selected companies. Unlike competitive bidding processes where documents become public after a government agency makes a decision, the pharmacy board has declined to release records showing how each applicant scored, citing exemptions in public-records laws for medical licensing applications. The board released an anonymous scoring sheet before the awards were made, but has never revealed the names of the companies that applied. The board has told losing applicants they can get their own scores only after the winners’ background checks are finished. If an applicant fails the background check, their initial approval could be canceled and the license could go to a competitor. The secrecy has mystified several applicants who paid a $10,000 nonrefundable fee but have been unable to get feedback on their efforts.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Town of Round Hill recently suffered a data breach and the destruction of electronic records, town officials announced Saturday afternoon. Officials say the extent of damage has not been determined, and data recovery is ongoing. Town Council on Thursday authorized Town Administrator Melissa Hynes to hire an independent technology consultant to assist in the recovery and to perform an internal investigation, according to the town. The breach was reported to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.
Loudoun Times-Mirror

Washington state may share a name with the nation’s capital, but there’s no big swamp that needs to be drained in the Pacific Northwest — at least, according to a new independent ranking of anti-corruption laws. The Evergreen State topped the inaugural S.W.A.M.P. Index’s list of states with tough corruption laws, impressing analysts from the Coalition for Integrity with the strength of its ethics agency and measures to prevent lobbyists from plying elected officials with gifts.
[Virginia ranked 43rd]
McClatchy

national stories of interest

A coalition of advocacy and teacher groups sued the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday morning for information related to its decision to allow schools to purchase firearms using federal funds.  The American Federation of Teachers, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence say the Education Department is violating federal law by not releasing records related to the decision in a timely manner.  The government is required to determine whether to comply with a FOIA request within 20 days. But according to the lawsuit, also filed by Democracy Forward, the government has fallen short of its statutory obligation. The plaintiffs are requesting expedited processing of their information request, which the government previously denied.
HuffPost

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley portrays himself as champion of openness in government, proclaiming “the people of Missouri deserve an open, honest and transparent government.” But Hawley, 38, is one of two statewide officials who do not use email on the job, making it difficult for voters — or his political opponents — to know how he conducts official business. Hawley’s office told The Kansas City Star that the attorney general “does not find it necessary or helpful” to use email for state business. His spokeswoman, Mary Compton, noted that Hawley’s two predecessors, Democrats Chris Koster, 54, and Jay Nixon, 62, did not use email either. In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Auditor Nicole Galloway all use email — and to some extent, texts — for official business, their offices told The Star.
McClatchy

The Interior Department is facing a lawsuit after failing to release electronic copies of elephant and lion trophy hunting permits, documents that animal conservation groups say are part of the public record. The Humane Society, Center for Biological Diversity and Born Free USA jointly filed a lawsuit Thursday against Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for not posting online records of various overseas big-game trophy hunts. The groups argue that FWS must release hunters’ permit applications and corresponding government approvals and denials as mandated under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The law, they say, mandates agencies post their decisions online for public inspection.
The Hill