Transparency News, 2/4/21

One of Virginia’s left-most Democrats in the legislature, Del. Lee Carter of Manassas, sought Wednesday to salvage a discarded proposal to repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law by forcing a vote on the House floor. On the House floor Wednesday, Carter aired grievances against his party’s leaders, arguing that the impending death of his bill due to inaction is what happens “whenever a majority party wishes to avoid a vote on an issue.” Carter requested that the bill be brought to the floor for a full House vote to keep the bill from dying due to inaction for the third session in a row. When committee leaders do not docket legislation assigned to their panels, the bills immediately die at crossover — the procedural midpoint of legislative sessions — when each chamber finishes work on its own bills and sends its approved measures to the other for consideration.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Last year was a census year. That means this year Virginia is redrawing legislative districts. And a piece of legislation seeks to add transparency, and accessibility, to the process. With House Bill 2082, Virginia’s new Redistricting Commission can meet virtually, as many organizations are this year. The bill makes sure they’ll be open to the public, too. Wednesday morning a House committee moved the bill forward by a vote of 13 to 8.
WVTF

The Herndon Town Council is in the process of reviewing initiatives to actively pursue and discuss. The council met Tuesday night to discuss members’ proposed strategic initiatives for the town. The initiatives fell in five categories: fiscal, transparency, inclusion, reform and long-term. Transparency initiatives encompassed five items for review. Those included ensuring audio and video recording for all meetings, dedicating resources for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and making all records available to the public. Another initiative included creating transcripts of town council meetings. Following a discussion from the council members and Ashton, they agreed to temporarily table creating transcripts of meetings to first review state requirements and the town’s ability to do so.
Reston Now

Rocky Forge Wind is approaching another bump in the long road to becoming the first onshore wind farm in Virginia. An April 21 hearing has been scheduled in a lawsuit filed by opponents, who argue that the state Department of Environmental Quality and Apex Clean Energy cut corners in a permitting process, ignoring the adverse impacts of building wind turbines 624 feet tall atop a Botetourt County ridgeline. According to the lawsuit, Apex and DEQ relied on out-of-date studies, prepared for the wind farm in 2015, to support an amended permit. A DEQ official told colleagues that the decision to accept the earlier studies was made by the state Department of Wildlife Resources. “However, if the PBR [permit by rule] gets litigated, it will be our problem,” the official wrote in an email obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Actand included in the lawsuit.
The Roanoke Times

 

The chairman of a Senate subcommittee wants the director of the Michigan State Police to appear at a Thursday meeting to answer questions about text message secrecy, citing “a growing concern about transparency in the department.” But Col. Joseph Gasper “is unable to attend” the 1 p.m. meeting of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the MSP, spokeswoman Shanon Banner said Wednesday. The MSP will send “a representative,” she said. In a Tuesday letter to Gasper, Sen. Tom Barrett, chairman of the subcommittee, cited recent articles in the Free Press about senior members of the MSP downloading “end-to-end” encryption apps onto their state-issued cell phones that would allow text messages, once deleted, to disappear without a trace, evading the Michigan Freedom of Information Act and legal discovery.
Detroit Free Press

A massive data breach involving the state auditor’s office has left more than a million Washingtonians’ personal information vulnerable to identity theft. It’s created potential new headaches for unemployment claimants already struggling to pay bills and deal with delays in benefit payments. A full picture of the debacle may take months to emerge, but here are answers to some of the most pressing questions Seattle Times readers have been asking: How was this data exposed?
Governing