Transparency News 12/23/15

State and Local Stories

HB 152 (Del. Simon)
Authorizes the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to investigate alleged violations of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act (the Acts).
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sum+HB152

HB 153 (Del. Simon)
Requires the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council to conduct a semiannual inspection of a random sample of disclosure statements filed with the Council to determine compliance with applicable disclosure requirements and limitations on gifts, the accuracy of information disclosed, and whether filing deadlines were met.
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sum+HB153

HB 154 (Del. Simon)
Provides that the aggregated value of a bundled gift is subject to the $100 limitation on certain gifts and is to be attributed to each person contributing to the bundled gift. 
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sum+HB154

HB 155 (Del. Simon)
Requires the disclosure on the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act Statement of Economic Interests form certain tax credits received by various people.
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sum+HB155

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday accepted the final report of his state ethics panel, which offered a series of recommendations, including a raise for state legislators.
On Oct. 19, during its final meeting, the Governor’s Commission to Ensure Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government had voted to recommend a salary increase of up to $15,000 for state lawmakers as part of its last package of clean-government proposals. The panel also recommended new limits on gifts from personal friends, an outright ban on the personal use of campaign funds and widening the ban on political fundraising during legislative sessions to include veto sessions and special sessions lasting more than one day.
Richmond Times-Dispatch


National Stories
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Monument, Colorado, lawyer Leslie Weise still wants the air quality records that Colorado Springs Utilities refused to provide in August, so she filed a petition Friday asking that a judge order their release.  Weise, who filed the action in the El Paso County courthouse, wants to see records from AECOM, the air quality services vendor for Utilities hired in December 2013. Utilities insisted, through Rick Griffith of the City Attorney's Office, that the information fell under the exemption for "trade secrets, privileged information, and confidential commercial, financial, geological or geophysical data." All Colorado Open Records Act lawsuits have led to rulings that the governmental entity release the disputed records, as government does not have a proprietary interest to protect from competitors, said Zansberg, who represents The Gazette in First Amendment cases.
The Gazette

With the 2015 legislative session in the books, C-Span has gone to the tape to see which White House contenders were staying busy on Capitol Hill and who was keeping out of sight.
New York Times

Not many people have heard of Colwyn, Pa. It’s a tiny Philadelphia suburb of about 2,500 people that covers just 0.3 square miles. But this spring, it gained notoriety when it was declared “financially distressed” by the state. Local Philadelphia stations had already been airing chaotic council meetings, complete with screaming matches, swearing, and even occasionally pushing and shoving. But the declaration brought even more attention. One TV station created a recurring segment called “Chaos in Colwyn” to cover the many resignations, firings and scandals that are ongoing. All this news coverage, along with state audits, have revealed just how poorly managed, and possibly corrupt, Colwyn is. Colwyn is a perfect example of what happens when virtually every aspect of local government breaks down. The state intervention, scrutiny and criminal prosecutions have created some hope that Colwyn can be pulled out of its quagmire. But given the borough’s seamy past and the deep-seated divisions that remain among its council members, no one is taking that for granted.
Governing

Defense Secretary Ash Carter admitted last week that he used a private email account to conduct official business, and now a government accountability nonprofit wants to see the emails. Cause for Action, an organization focused on regulatory and fiscal transparency, has filed a Freedom of Information Act-request for all of Carter’s correspondence from the account, in addition to other messages. The D.C.-based nonprofit claims that by using a private account, Carter may have violated provisions of the Federal Records Act, which governs the preservation of official government documents. Amendments made to the FRA in 2014 forbid government workers to use private email addresses for official business unless the emails are copied to an authorized federal email account.
Federal Times

The Department of Justice must explain why it withheld grand jury records tied to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, a federal judge ruled.      Pennsylvania State University alumnus Ryan Bagwell brought the case pro se this past April, seeking the government's records from the now-closed Sandusky investigation under the Freedom of Information Act.      With the former assistant football coach serving decades in prison, one aspect of the investigation focused on the extent to which Penn State ignored reports of Sandusky's predations.      Though the feds had produced 517 pages in response to Bagwell's request by July 2015, it withheld 104 pages in full.      The withheld data also included a store of "grand jury material" that the government never even reviewed - representing 2,700 pages of records and 86 gigabytes of electronic information.
Courthouse News Service


Editorials/Columns

IF THERE’S NO good reason to withhold public documents from the public, then the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions should release them immediately. Instead, the agency is asking car title lending companies for reasons the records shouldn’t be made public. In a capsule, this is everything wrong with Virginia’s ridiculously porous open records law, fraught with unnecessary exemptions and protections for the powerful and moneyed. Officials at the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions are hardly alone in treating the state’s open records laws with contempt. But they can be among the first to show those laws the respect and urgency they deserve. 
Virginian-Pilot

A Roanoke organization tried to do the right thing in allowing a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter to join the city Christmas parade with its own float. The plan drew complaints from the Roanoke NAACP, but Downtown Roanoke Inc. defended the organization’s First Amendment right to expression. The NAACP held its own protest rally before the parade. DRI had the right idea. If the parade sponsor bans one group from expressing political views, it would have to ban  all groups from expressing their views. Otherwise, the prohibition would be enforced on the basis of message content, which is constitutionally impermissible. It was ... constitutionally correct, but publicly risky position.
Daily Progress