Virginia Coalition for Open Government

Transparency News 12/4/14

Thursday, December 4, 2014

 

State and Local Stories

A Republican lawmaker from Prince William County said Wednesday that he would support “a very constraining cap” on gifts that legislators could accept. “I want to be very aggressive,” Del. Richard L. Anderson, R-Prince William, said at AP Day at the Capital, an annual gathering of newsmakers and reporters from around the state, held at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. When Gov. Terry McAuliffe took office he issued an executive order that imposed a $100 limit on gifts for members of the executive branch. “I could be very happy with a $100 cap,” Anderson said.
Times-Dispatch

Central Valley legislators are largely reserving judgment on a proposal to limit expensive gifts that state and local government officials may receive. Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon sounded a note of concern that the bill could lead to unintended consequences. “I think we need to be careful of what we put out there,” Hanger said on Friday, adding that he had not yet had a chance to review the bill. Hanger cautioned against setting up “tripwires” for officials, saying some dinners in Richmond could easily exceed $100, and various plaques and awards given by different organizations may cross the monetary barrier.
Daily News Record

A showdown between Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the Republican-controlled General Assembly seems to be brewing for the 2015 session over ethics reform. The governor has not named his four appointments to the Virginia Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council. Nominees from the attorney general and the Virginia Association of Counties also have yet to be named, leaving only nine members on the 15-member council, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. A representative from the association said a nominee had been submitted, but lawmakers haven’t taken action. One of the council members, Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, said he doesn’t understand why the governor has not named his nominees.
Daily News Record

People wonder whether they can carry all sorts of things through airport security. A ham sandwich? A hammer? A hamster? A hammock? A ham radio? Ham sandwiches from home? The answer to each (yes, no, maybe, yes, yes, yes already) is dutifully catalogued in a growing database of some 3,500 entries that travelers can search on My TSA, the Transportation Security Administration's mobile app. The application is free and also lists average flight delays at airports, a traveler's guide and crowd-sourced security line wait times, among other features. But the search tool titled "Can I Bring?" provides the greatest mix of usefulness and idle entertainment for those waiting somewhere, like in a security line.
Virginian-Pilot

National Stories

The possibility of sensitive information being disclosed to a sheriff's teenage son became a highly controversial issue in DuPage County, Illinois, in the case of Better Government Association v. Zaruba, 2014 IL App (2d) 140071. In that case, the Better Government Association ("BGA") requested records that would disclose the vehicles and persons who were subject to the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System ("LEADS") inquiries allegedly conducted by the DuPage County Sheriff's son. At age 17, Patrick Zaruba was given access to LEADS, which could have allowed him to view information about licensed drivers in Illinois as well as sensitive information about crime related matters, including gang activity and stolen vehicles. For a number of reasons outlined below, the Second District Appellate Court held that Sheriff Zaruba did not have to comply with the requests.
National Law Review

Patents have long been a valuable tool for tech companies, providing protection for innovations and extracting royalties. But a new report charges that the US Patent Office has a secret program it uses to delay patents it views as controversial or inconvenient. The Sensitive Application Warning System (SAWS) is the Patent Office's "information gathering system" that triggers additional reviews for applications "that include sensitive subject matter," according to USPTO documentation. But a San Francisco-based law firm has documents it believes show the program can stifle innovation, ultimately hurting consumers, according to a Yahoo Tech report Wednesday.
CNET News

History can come alive in classrooms around the country under a new project that enables students to access a trove of old data that can help them discover their own places in the broad sweep of the American story. The for-profit online family history company, Ancestry.com, has opened its collection of historical documents to schools for free, drawing on help from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to guide teachers in using them in their classrooms. The idea behind the project, which was officially unveiled last month, is to help students look at historical documents, analyze them and put them in context, said Cheryl Mason Bolick, who helped lead the effort as a faculty supervisor of LEARN NC, the outreach arm of the UNC School of Education.
McClatchy
 

Editorials/Columns

Gov. Terry McAuliffe's bipartisan commission offered up an interim draft of necessary changes to state ethics and conflict-of-interest laws this week. The recommendations provide a solid foundation for lawmakers to build the kind of comprehensive reform that they failed to enact in the past legislative session. They suggested creating an independent Ethics Review Commission, which would replace the advisory council created this year. The independent board would be bipartisan, have seven members appointed by lawmakers and the governor, and members would serve staggered, three-year terms. The commission would provide guidance to elected officials but still retain power to initiate investigations, levy civil fines and refer potential criminal offenses to the appropriate authority. It is modeled on the ethics commission that oversees the U.S. House of Representatives, and would also have authority to shape the required disclosure forms, provide advice to anonymous callers and publish annual reports and formal opinions. Creating and empowering such a commission is a critical component in any effort to shore up Virginia's porous ethics laws. Without it, lawmakers will simply perpetuate a system that has failed them and the public too many times.
Virginian-Pilot