Transparency News 3/6/17
Monday, March 6, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
For advocates of government transparency, the General Assembly's 2017 session was a mixed bag, resulting in bills that both increased and decreased information available under the Freedom of Information Act. According to Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, the session saw fewer FOIA-related bills than in past years. Even so, the group stayed busy opposing legislation that Rhyne said would keep important information from the public.
U.S. News & World Report
Del. David Yancey got the word just before the House of Delegates convened at noon that the two anti-hacking bills he and his across-the-aisle, other-side-of-the-Capitol friend state Sen. Monty Mason, were pushing had crashed and burned. Mason's state Senate version had died in an 8 a.m. Senate Finance subcommittee vote on a block of more than 20 bills as Mason was in the midst of a series of four other meetings that day. He thought the proposal would get a full hearing about midmorning. That was not a good sign for Yancey's nearly identical House version. But Yancey's bill sailed through with unanimous votes in both houses and now awaits Gov. Terry McAuliffe's signature. How that happened is a story about the workings and worries of Virginia's General Assembly that operate in the shadow of higher-volume wrangles over hot-button political disputes.
Daily Press
Norfolk plans to improve public access to data about government as part of a national program. Norfolk is joining What Works Cities, an effort sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Virginia Beach, which also participates, launched a “data portal” last year after joining What Works Cities. The site lets anyone see and analyze crime statistics, restaurant inspection results, public-employee salaries, code-enforcement cases and more. The effort is just beginning in Norfolk, so it’s not clear what kind of improvements the city will see. What Works Cities will give Norfolk advice from national experts on how to make information more accessible.
Virginian-Pilot
National Stories
The Texas Public Information Act entitles any person, regardless of citizenship or residency, to obtain information about government agencies, public officials and government employees. But state House Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, submitted an amendment that would allow Texas to refused to comply with public information requests from people and organizations outside the state. “This is a simple bill to say, ‘Texas government is responsive to Texans,’” Schofield told the newspaper. H.B. 526, would require government employees to ask a person requesting information for the physical address of their Texas residence. If the requestor lives out-of-state, the request “may” be accepted, but the government is not required to respond. If Schofield’s bill passes, Texas will be one of only seven states with a residency requirement for public information requests, joining Tennessee, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey and Virginia.
Courthouse News
The Indianapolis Star has been engaged in a long-running effort to obtain emails from Vice President Mike Pence’s personal AOL account. The controversy over his use of a private email account exploded Thursday, but the story has its roots in another batch of emails. In 2014, The Star was investigating a possible conflict of interest involving Seema Verma, a powerful state health-care consultant who was simultaneously working for one of the state’s largest Medicaid contractors. Verma is now President Trump’s pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In conjunction with that investigation, reporters requested emails involving Verma and one of Pence’s cabinet members with whom she butted heads. About nine months later — well after the paper published its report on Verma — the Pence administration provided nearly 1,500 pages of emails.
USA TODAY
Vice President Mike Pence made his first public comments Friday about his use of a private AOL email account to conduct some public business while he was Indiana's governor. "There's no comparison whatsoever between Hillary Clinton's practice — having a private server, misusing classified information, destroying emails when they were requested by the Congress," Pence said. "We have fully complied with Indiana's laws.
USA TODAY
As the civic data field matures, more cities are discovering the value of data to improve government and asking how they can more fully join the movement. The path a public-sector leader should take to move from analog government to analytics-driven decision-making requires following sound advice and proven examples. Purchasing or building a data solution is only worth the investment when accompanied by the right planning, staffing and support to ensure that the tools not only solve an immediate civic problem but will generate long-term improvement.
Governing
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is suing the University of Michigan for taking too long to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request. Attorney Patrick Wright says his group wanted all emails sent by UM President Mark Schlissel that mentioned the word "Trump." That's after Schissell publicly disparaged Donald Trump's campaign after he was elected, saying it was based on hate. Wright says the University eventually provided four emails, claiming exceptions to several others - but it took 100 days. "There's no way it could possibly take 100 days to provide four emails," says Wright. "It's beyond the pale."
Michigan Radio
Editorials/Columns
Our Peninsula was the first place in North America where people elected by their neighbors gathered together to make laws and spend public funds under the watchful eye of those neighbors. That was up in Jamestown, in 1619. So there's symbolism in the Peninsula Airport Commission notion of inviting representatives from James City County, Williamsburg and York County to help govern Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. That — along with Thursday's first formal statement of regret for its decision to use taxpayer funds to make good a $4.5 million debt the failed People Express Airlines owed TowneBank — marks a first step by the commission to get on track fulfilling its duties as a public body. Our history, from our very first days to the airport commission's difficulties of recent weeks, gives Peninsula residents a unique perspective on public service, and on the responsibilities of public officials.
Daily Press
U.S. News & World Report
Del. David Yancey got the word just before the House of Delegates convened at noon that the two anti-hacking bills he and his across-the-aisle, other-side-of-the-Capitol friend state Sen. Monty Mason, were pushing had crashed and burned. Mason's state Senate version had died in an 8 a.m. Senate Finance subcommittee vote on a block of more than 20 bills as Mason was in the midst of a series of four other meetings that day. He thought the proposal would get a full hearing about midmorning. That was not a good sign for Yancey's nearly identical House version. But Yancey's bill sailed through with unanimous votes in both houses and now awaits Gov. Terry McAuliffe's signature. How that happened is a story about the workings and worries of Virginia's General Assembly that operate in the shadow of higher-volume wrangles over hot-button political disputes.
Daily Press
Norfolk plans to improve public access to data about government as part of a national program. Norfolk is joining What Works Cities, an effort sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Virginia Beach, which also participates, launched a “data portal” last year after joining What Works Cities. The site lets anyone see and analyze crime statistics, restaurant inspection results, public-employee salaries, code-enforcement cases and more. The effort is just beginning in Norfolk, so it’s not clear what kind of improvements the city will see. What Works Cities will give Norfolk advice from national experts on how to make information more accessible.
Virginian-Pilot
National Stories
The Texas Public Information Act entitles any person, regardless of citizenship or residency, to obtain information about government agencies, public officials and government employees. But state House Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, submitted an amendment that would allow Texas to refused to comply with public information requests from people and organizations outside the state. “This is a simple bill to say, ‘Texas government is responsive to Texans,’” Schofield told the newspaper. H.B. 526, would require government employees to ask a person requesting information for the physical address of their Texas residence. If the requestor lives out-of-state, the request “may” be accepted, but the government is not required to respond. If Schofield’s bill passes, Texas will be one of only seven states with a residency requirement for public information requests, joining Tennessee, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey and Virginia.
Courthouse News
The Indianapolis Star has been engaged in a long-running effort to obtain emails from Vice President Mike Pence’s personal AOL account. The controversy over his use of a private email account exploded Thursday, but the story has its roots in another batch of emails. In 2014, The Star was investigating a possible conflict of interest involving Seema Verma, a powerful state health-care consultant who was simultaneously working for one of the state’s largest Medicaid contractors. Verma is now President Trump’s pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In conjunction with that investigation, reporters requested emails involving Verma and one of Pence’s cabinet members with whom she butted heads. About nine months later — well after the paper published its report on Verma — the Pence administration provided nearly 1,500 pages of emails.
USA TODAY
Vice President Mike Pence made his first public comments Friday about his use of a private AOL email account to conduct some public business while he was Indiana's governor. "There's no comparison whatsoever between Hillary Clinton's practice — having a private server, misusing classified information, destroying emails when they were requested by the Congress," Pence said. "We have fully complied with Indiana's laws.
USA TODAY
As the civic data field matures, more cities are discovering the value of data to improve government and asking how they can more fully join the movement. The path a public-sector leader should take to move from analog government to analytics-driven decision-making requires following sound advice and proven examples. Purchasing or building a data solution is only worth the investment when accompanied by the right planning, staffing and support to ensure that the tools not only solve an immediate civic problem but will generate long-term improvement.
Governing
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is suing the University of Michigan for taking too long to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request. Attorney Patrick Wright says his group wanted all emails sent by UM President Mark Schlissel that mentioned the word "Trump." That's after Schissell publicly disparaged Donald Trump's campaign after he was elected, saying it was based on hate. Wright says the University eventually provided four emails, claiming exceptions to several others - but it took 100 days. "There's no way it could possibly take 100 days to provide four emails," says Wright. "It's beyond the pale."
Michigan Radio
Editorials/Columns
Our Peninsula was the first place in North America where people elected by their neighbors gathered together to make laws and spend public funds under the watchful eye of those neighbors. That was up in Jamestown, in 1619. So there's symbolism in the Peninsula Airport Commission notion of inviting representatives from James City County, Williamsburg and York County to help govern Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. That — along with Thursday's first formal statement of regret for its decision to use taxpayer funds to make good a $4.5 million debt the failed People Express Airlines owed TowneBank — marks a first step by the commission to get on track fulfilling its duties as a public body. Our history, from our very first days to the airport commission's difficulties of recent weeks, gives Peninsula residents a unique perspective on public service, and on the responsibilities of public officials.
Daily Press
Categories:
