Transparency News 2/8/17
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
Click above to check out VCOG’s bill tracking chart, which has been updated to reflect the fate of all 61 bills we were following after crossover day yesterday
A transparency measure cleared the Senate Tuesday, 24-16. Senate Bill 795 would require local governments and school boards to post online the vendor name, payment amount, date and a description for every transaction they make. This information is all releasable now under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but some legislators are concerned with what it will cost local governments to put the information online. Locally, Locke and Mason voted against this bill. Norment voted for it. Del. Rick Morris' House Bill 2402, which would make it easier for governments to fire employees who ignore FOIA requests, cleared the House Tuesday, 67-27. Senate Bill 1128, which would toughen FOIA enforcement against these same employees, did not pass. It was set aside on the floor, partly because of a Norment motion to do so. With the crossover deadline passing, the bill died.
Daily Press
Del. Kathy Byron’s hotly contested broadband bill, twice-revised and whittled down, passed Virginia’s House of Delegates on Tuesday. The bill passed the House as a measure to increase transparency among government-funded municipal broadband initiatives. House Bill 2108 sailed through the House in a 72-24 vote with one abstention. Delegates representing the Roanoke and New River valleys — Sam Rasoul, Greg Habeeb, Joseph Yost, Nick Rush and Chris Head — opposed the bill after representatives from Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority fought against multiple versions of the bill.
Roanoke Times
Although it appears the Town Council cannot legally demolish the Brown building for at least four years without going through a lengthy review process, members of the voting majority on the council have dug in their heels and will not change their votes. After heated back and forth between citizens and councilmen alike, Councilwoman Kim Bishop, who voted in favor of the demolition in January, said Monday she would not rescind her vote and that the town is just embarrassing itself. “I’m tired of this crap,” she said. “We are now the laughing stock of this state … We look ridiculous.” At that point in the meeting, several citizens began hollering in agreement to the ‘laughing stock’ reference, which prompted Bishop to call out the citizens at large. At that point, John Massoud, a resident, began yelling at Bishop until Mayor Richard “Rich” Orndorff Jr. threatened to remove him from the meeting.
Northern Virginia Daily
National Stories
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Feb. 1 released the full text of proposals and regulations that the public would otherwise never see until after they have been finalized and approved. The nation's top telecom and cable regulator wants to give Americans a better view into the workings of their government. So, in a first-ever pilot project, the Federal Communications Commission has begun publishing the full text of proposals and regulations that the public would otherwise never see until after they have been finalized and approved. On Thursday, FCC officials released two such documents: a proposed order that, if approved, could relax some regulations concerning AM-to-FM radio transmitters, as well as a notice saying that the agency hopes to draw up new rules allowing the use of a “next-generation” broadcast TV technology.
Washington Post
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal law that allows people in the United States to access unreleased documents and information held by the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is set to make some changes to the way FOIA requests are submitted at the beginning of March. Starting next month, the FBI will no longer accept FOIA requests that are submitted by email. Instead, requests will have to be sent via fax or standard mail, or submitted via an online portal.
Digital Trends
In November, Always Investigating told you about a lawsuit by the Kokua Council against the Hawaii Department of Health over its posting of health care facility inspections. While digging into the long-term care reports – which track the trends of the most common violations – we found extensive blackouts on most of them. A judge ruled Thursday, Feb. 2, that the redactions were overly extensive and violated the state’s open records law. The Kokua Council, an advocate on behalf of critical senior issues such as long-term care, also argues that the health department did not post the inspection reports within the required five days. “Without these reports, people don’t know. It’s like going to a hotel and not being able to review any reviews of the hotel,” said council attorney Lance Collins.
KHON2
Editorials/Columns
It’s not clear whether the Trump administration is responsible for a recent USDA decision to hide important animal-welfare information or if the change is the result of an ongoing review, as the department claims. And it doesn’t really matter. Either way, the move is a bad call. The USDA formerly posted online various inspection reports and other information about countless institutions, from zoos to pet breeders, along with enforcement records related to federal animal-welfare statutes. The information often was redacted, but it generally provided enough details for humane societies to track abuses, warn consumers about known puppy mills and keep pressure on government. The information still will be available through freedom-of-information requests, but those are both time-consuming and expensive — even when requesters know what to ask for.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A transparency measure cleared the Senate Tuesday, 24-16. Senate Bill 795 would require local governments and school boards to post online the vendor name, payment amount, date and a description for every transaction they make. This information is all releasable now under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but some legislators are concerned with what it will cost local governments to put the information online. Locally, Locke and Mason voted against this bill. Norment voted for it. Del. Rick Morris' House Bill 2402, which would make it easier for governments to fire employees who ignore FOIA requests, cleared the House Tuesday, 67-27. Senate Bill 1128, which would toughen FOIA enforcement against these same employees, did not pass. It was set aside on the floor, partly because of a Norment motion to do so. With the crossover deadline passing, the bill died.
Daily Press
Del. Kathy Byron’s hotly contested broadband bill, twice-revised and whittled down, passed Virginia’s House of Delegates on Tuesday. The bill passed the House as a measure to increase transparency among government-funded municipal broadband initiatives. House Bill 2108 sailed through the House in a 72-24 vote with one abstention. Delegates representing the Roanoke and New River valleys — Sam Rasoul, Greg Habeeb, Joseph Yost, Nick Rush and Chris Head — opposed the bill after representatives from Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority fought against multiple versions of the bill.
Roanoke Times
Although it appears the Town Council cannot legally demolish the Brown building for at least four years without going through a lengthy review process, members of the voting majority on the council have dug in their heels and will not change their votes. After heated back and forth between citizens and councilmen alike, Councilwoman Kim Bishop, who voted in favor of the demolition in January, said Monday she would not rescind her vote and that the town is just embarrassing itself. “I’m tired of this crap,” she said. “We are now the laughing stock of this state … We look ridiculous.” At that point in the meeting, several citizens began hollering in agreement to the ‘laughing stock’ reference, which prompted Bishop to call out the citizens at large. At that point, John Massoud, a resident, began yelling at Bishop until Mayor Richard “Rich” Orndorff Jr. threatened to remove him from the meeting.
Northern Virginia Daily
National Stories
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Feb. 1 released the full text of proposals and regulations that the public would otherwise never see until after they have been finalized and approved. The nation's top telecom and cable regulator wants to give Americans a better view into the workings of their government. So, in a first-ever pilot project, the Federal Communications Commission has begun publishing the full text of proposals and regulations that the public would otherwise never see until after they have been finalized and approved. On Thursday, FCC officials released two such documents: a proposed order that, if approved, could relax some regulations concerning AM-to-FM radio transmitters, as well as a notice saying that the agency hopes to draw up new rules allowing the use of a “next-generation” broadcast TV technology.
Washington Post
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal law that allows people in the United States to access unreleased documents and information held by the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is set to make some changes to the way FOIA requests are submitted at the beginning of March. Starting next month, the FBI will no longer accept FOIA requests that are submitted by email. Instead, requests will have to be sent via fax or standard mail, or submitted via an online portal.
Digital Trends
In November, Always Investigating told you about a lawsuit by the Kokua Council against the Hawaii Department of Health over its posting of health care facility inspections. While digging into the long-term care reports – which track the trends of the most common violations – we found extensive blackouts on most of them. A judge ruled Thursday, Feb. 2, that the redactions were overly extensive and violated the state’s open records law. The Kokua Council, an advocate on behalf of critical senior issues such as long-term care, also argues that the health department did not post the inspection reports within the required five days. “Without these reports, people don’t know. It’s like going to a hotel and not being able to review any reviews of the hotel,” said council attorney Lance Collins.
KHON2
Editorials/Columns
It’s not clear whether the Trump administration is responsible for a recent USDA decision to hide important animal-welfare information or if the change is the result of an ongoing review, as the department claims. And it doesn’t really matter. Either way, the move is a bad call. The USDA formerly posted online various inspection reports and other information about countless institutions, from zoos to pet breeders, along with enforcement records related to federal animal-welfare statutes. The information often was redacted, but it generally provided enough details for humane societies to track abuses, warn consumers about known puppy mills and keep pressure on government. The information still will be available through freedom-of-information requests, but those are both time-consuming and expensive — even when requesters know what to ask for.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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