Sunlight Foundation - MyOC Groups

Deficit Committee Transparency Act -- please write a letter to your representatives asking them to cosponsor and support! This bill covers almost everything we're pushing for at sunlightfoundation.com/opensupercongress

Sunlight has long supported requiring the Senate to file their campaign finance reports electronically. This bill should pass, and should have passed long ago.

In the age of the Internet, government is transparent only when public information is available online. The Sunlight Foundation supports the Public Online Information Act (POIA), legislation that embraces a new formula for transparency: public equals online. No longer will antiquated government disclosure practices bury public information in out-of-the-way offices and in outmoded formats. POIA requires Executive Branch agencies to publish all publicly available information on the Internet in a timely fashion and in user-friendly formats. It also creates an advisory committee to help develop government-wide Internet publication policies. Freeing government information from its paper silos provides the private sector with raw material to develop new products and services and gives the public what they need to participate in government as active and informed citizens. Establishing an advisory committee that brings all three branches of government and the private sector together to develop government-wide information best practices will improve how the government serves the American people.

In the age of the Internet, government is transparent only when public information is available online. The Sunlight Foundation supports the Public Online Information Act (POIA), legislation that embraces a new formula for transparency: public equals online. No longer will antiquated government disclosure practices bury public information in out-of-the-way offices and in outmoded formats. POIA requires Executive Branch agencies to publish all publicly available information on the Internet in a timely fashion and in user-friendly formats. It also creates an advisory committee to help develop government-wide Internet publication policies. Freeing government information from its paper silos provides the private sector with raw material to develop new products and services and gives the public what they need to participate in government as active and informed citizens. Establishing an advisory committee that brings all three branches of government and the private sector together to develop government-wide information best practices will improve how the government serves the American people.

In our experience, agency backlogs impose one of the greatest impediments to access under the FOIA and create a disparity across the federal government in the administration of the FOIA. Moreover, while backlogs have presented a longstanding problem in agency implementation of the FOIA, we still do not understand fully the conditions and practices that create those backlogs. Particularly in light of President Obama’s directive to agencies to reduce significant backlogs of outstanding FOIA requests, it is imperative that we identify the root causes of FOIA processing delays.

Millions of dollars that rightfully belong to shareholders are spent on political activity without their knowledge or approval. If the Shareholder Protection Act is enacted, shareholders would have the right to vote on whether to allow the corporations they own to embark on political expenditures, and corporations would have the responsibility to disclose to the shareholders and the public how much they spend on elections and which candidates they support or oppose. In 2010, outside groups spent $455 million to influence the midterm elections. Secret donors supplied $126 million for those efforts, money that often funded the most negative, mudslinging ads. The Shareholder Protection Act is an important tool to allow the public to follow dark money expenditures that shape our democratic institutions. As Congresswoman Eshoo stated during the press conference announcing the bill’s introduction, “The issue of disclosure is something that goes right to the heart of our democracy.” In addition making spending on our elections more transparent, the bill will provide important protections to the millions of Americans who hold shares in publicly traded companies. Right now, if shareholders disagree with the political expenditures made by the companies they own—if they even know about them—their only option to protest is to sell their stock. This is not feasible when investors own shares through an intermediary such as a mutual fund. Moreover, even if the decision to divest is in the hands of the shareholder, it is not always financially prudent to do so. This bill would decrease the chances that shareholders would have to choose between their first amendment rights and their financial security.

Public oversight of government could become a lot easier if the “Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act” (HR 1974) becomes law. The legislation requires reports to Congress or its committees be published online by GPO. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Mike Quigley, and joined by 6 original co-sponsors, reaches virtually all federal agencies and applies to all reports required by statute or conference report, subject to limited exceptions. First, the ACRMA makes sure the reports will be available in bulk, in open formats, and in a timely fashion, so that people can easily learn about the work of the federal government. Second, it would require the reports to be published by GPO, a legislative branch agency, instead of OMB, so as to maintain control of congressional documents by an arm of the legislature. Because GPO already has a website to publish reports online, publishing these additional documents should be a relatively light lift. Third, the bill would make it possible to determine when agencies have failed to submit reports to congress in a timely fashion as required by law. Finally, ACMRA spells out the limited circumstances when reports (or some of their contents) can be withheld or redacted, including indicating when redactions are made.

Millions of dollars that rightfully belong to shareholders are spent on political activity without their knowledge or approval. If the Shareholder Protection Act is enacted, shareholders would have the right to vote on whether to allow the corporations they own to embark on political expenditures, and corporations would have the responsibility to disclose to the shareholders and the public how much they spend on elections and which candidates they support or oppose. In 2010, outside groups spent $455 million to influence the midterm elections. Secret donors supplied $126 million for those efforts, money that often funded the most negative, mudslinging ads. The Shareholder Protection Act is an important tool to allow the public to follow dark money expenditures that shape our democratic institutions. As Congresswoman Eshoo stated during the press conference announcing the bill’s introduction, “The issue of disclosure is something that goes right to the heart of our democracy.” In addition making spending on our elections more transparent, the bill will provide important protections to the millions of Americans who hold shares in publicly traded companies. Right now, if shareholders disagree with the political expenditures made by the companies they own—if they even know about them—their only option to protest is to sell their stock. This is not feasible when investors own shares through an intermediary such as a mutual fund. Moreover, even if the decision to divest is in the hands of the shareholder, it is not always financially prudent to do so. This bill would decrease the chances that shareholders would have to choose between their first amendment rights and their financial security.

To create a Lobbying Disclosure Act Task Force, and to make certain modifications to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.