State and Local Stories
The Senate General Laws unanimously passed a bill to designate a FOIA officer in each local government and to post a summary of FOIA rights and responsibilities to their website.
The same committee followed mostly partisan lines in advancing a bill to make the resumes and applications of gubernatorial appointees subject to disclosure. Sen. Chap Petersen was the only Democrat to vote with seven Republicans on the committee.
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Virginia’s commerce secretary said Monday he has no regrets about accepting the use of a luxury suite offered by the Washington Redskins because he received “unqualified approval” from the state’s newly created ethics council. In his first public remarks on the matter, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice A. Jones said that in order to ensure the state’s ethics council had “the totality of the facts,” he had the Redskins join him on the phone when he called the council seeking advice.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
An effort to relax the stricter ethics standards Virginia lawmakers imposed on themselves last year was rejected Monday by a House of Delegates subcommittee. Last year, in the wake of former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s conviction on federal corruption charges, the General Assembly placed a $100 annual cap on gifts – including meals, travel and entertainment – that lawmakers can receive from lobbyists, their clients and others seeking to do business with the state. Last month, the state Senate passed legislation from Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City County, that would backtrack on the new gift cap by allowing lawmakers to accept unlimited food and alcohol at events they attend. The legislation, SB692, also would allow lawmakers to accept unlimited gifts, including travel, from nonpartisan legislative organizations and charitable groups. Norment’s proposal was rejected Monday by a subcommittee of the House Courts of Justice Committee. It is likely to become a subject of negotiation by a joint House-Senate committee in the closing days of the legislative session this month.
Virginian-Pilot
Barred from speaking with some employees, Norfolk Treasurer isn't writing them much either // Anthony Burfoot has written only four emails to staff members and no memorandums since he was ordered not speak with possible witnesses in his public corruption and perjury trial.
Virginian-Pilot
An auditing firm finds that the Franklin City Public Schools School Board has several problems regarding internal controls, all which are considered to be a moderate or high-risk level. This was presented during the Franklin City Council meeting on Monday night by Davis & Associates for the City of Franklin’s Financial Statement Audit for the FY2015. Although there were no discoveries relating to federal or state programs with the school board, the firm found five issues with the school board all relating to weaknesses or deficiencies in internal controls. The first finding was a material weakness in internal controls with the segregation of duties. The second finding was a material weakness in internal controls with the oversight over financial transactions.The third finding related to significant deficiency in internal controls. The firm discovered instances in which school board expenditures were not accompanied by proper supporting documentation. The fourth finding related to material weakness in internal controls with budget activity. The fifth finding was material non-compliance in regard to procurement of services.
Tidewater News
National Stories
A D.C. Council oversight committee hearing on Monday sparked outrage from dozens of residents frustrated by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which has failed to provide building permit tracking data online as required by law. Council member Vincent Orange, the at-large independent whose chairs the committee that oversees DCRA, noted chronic problems with the agency — including its failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act — but he hailed the District’s recent building boom as a good sign for DCRA.
Washington Times
The Boston Police Department has pledged to make some disclosures about how they use cellphone trackers, after months of rebuffing questions on the covert surveillance technology. In a live radio interview last week, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said his staff was gathering information to share with local civil liberties advocates. Evans said privacy concerns about trackers were overblown and called the technology a critical tool used only under urgent circumstances.
New England Center for Investigative Reporting
New Jersey taxpayers last year were on the hook for nearly $154,000 to settle court cases in which Gov. Chris Christie's administration tried to stop records from being disclosed to the public. Last year's payouts included instances in which the administration attempted to shield records on how Christie, whose presidential campaign ended Feb. 10, attempted to promote himself to a national audience, as well as costs related to his frequent out-of-state travel. The legal bills and payouts from 2015 mean taxpayers have footed a bill of nearly $758,000 since 2012 after courts deemed the administration was wrong to try to keep public records secret. That figure is likely to grow in the current year.
NJ.com
A previously classified letter defending President George W. Bush’s controversial warrantless wiretap program deployed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks sought to justify the strategy as “the most effective method’’ to defend the country from additional assaults. The 2002 memorandum, authored by then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo and made public Monday, asserted in part that traditional warrant and probable cause requirements in criminal cases were "unsuited to the demands of wartime and the military necessity to successfully prosecute a war against the enemy.''
USA TODAY