Agencies can fulfill the president's vision of open government by posting large amounts of data online quickly and making it easy to find, a group that tracks the public's satisfaction with government Web sites reported on Tuesday.More here.
By boosting the "thoroughness and accessibility of information made available online," or what is described as "online transparency," agencies can achieve the open government principles that President Obama outlined on his first full day in office, according to a report released by ForeSee Results, a market research firm that, in conjunction with the American Customer Satisfaction Index, issues quarterly reports on public opinion about federal Web sites.
While some states have created impressive websites to disseminate information about their share of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), most are failing to make effective use of online technology to educate taxpayers about the impact of economic stimulus spending. This is the finding of Show Us the Stimulus, a report released today by Good Jobs First, a non-profit research center based in Washington, DC.Read the full report here.
“Many states are failing to support President Obama’s vow that the Recovery Act will be carried out with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability,” said Good Jobs First executive director Greg LeRoy. “By failing to use broadly available web tools, they are making it more difficult to measure the success of ARRA in mitigating the effects of the recession.”
Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink Tuesday unveiled what they described as the next generation of Florida's legendary open-government laws, new Web sites that track state spending.More here.
The sites (flgov.com/sunshinespending and myfloridacfo.com/sunshinespending) track government-agency spending by contractor name."
Government in the sunshine is more important than ever, especially during these challenging economic times," Crist said.
State leaders in recent years have invested considerable time and money (and rightly so) in trying to grow the high-tech and life sciences industries in Indiana. They have not, however, as a new survey shows, placed a similar emphasis on moving state government into the digital age, even though ready access to information is vital in both industries targeted for growth.More here.
The survey, conducted by journalism organizations that explored government Web sites in every state, found that Indiana ranks near the bottom in online access to public information. Only Mississippi ranked worse than Indiana in supplying records on such topics as school bus safety, hospital inspections and disciplinary actions against doctors and lawyers. Three other states -- Montana, Oregon and Wyoming -- tied with Indiana in the bottom five of the ratings.
Such neglect of open government is unacceptable at any time. And it's especially discouraging for a state that is trying to attract and retain emerging industries and the educated professionals they employ.
See how your state measures up to others in terms of state government information available online:
Most Americans can easily find videos of water skiing squirrels on the Internet but they’ll have less luck finding out whether their children's school buses and classrooms are safe, or if neighborhood gas stations are overcharging.
The Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information online found that while more and more government records are being posted online, some of the most important information is being left offline. And in some cases governments are charging taxpayers to access records that they already paid for, such as death certificates.
More here.
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Survey shows some Ky. records available online, Fort Mill TimesIn Kentucky, which tied for 26th place, the easiest records to find online are death certificates; however, viewing them is not free. Citizens must order them online and pay processing and delivery fees.
Also easy to find are statewide school test data; disciplinary actions taken against physicians within the past decade; teacher certifications; political campaign contributions and expenses; and personal financial disclosure reports for members of the Kentucky legislature.
Mississippi last in survey of Internet records, Memphis Commercial Appeal.
The state has online data from only four of 20 categories examined by the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information Online.N.C. gets high marks for posting public info online, Times-News Online
But the Mississippi agencies responsible for these records aren’t solely to blame in the lag of posting information online. Other culprits include a shortage of funding for developing and maintaining the Web sites; a shortage of broadband Internet access in this mostly rural state and lack of interest by residents who opt not to go online.
The report found that North Carolina, which tied for third place, provides information on 17 out of 20 categories surveyed.
A visitor to the state's government Web site (www.nc.gov) can easily find links to state agencies on health, public education and transportation, but other links listed under "Online Services" and "State Agencies" can be confusing for a first-time user, the survey found.
Spurred by the Dec. 9 arrest of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, officials inside and outside of state government are studying ways to battle government corruption.More here.
GateHouse Media’s State Capitol Bureau is tracking their work and examining the issues that arise at public hearings of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Government Reform. The idea is to help readers understand attempts to fix state government and make it run in a way that better serves the public.
Last Tuesday, the legislative committee focused for a second time on the topic of “open government.”
A bill introduced in the state of Washington would help merge citizens and their government via the Internet, The Washington Blog reported. The bill would require meeting agendas to be posted within 72 hours before the start of the meeting (24 hours for special or emergency meetings) as well as the text of any rule or ordinance to be discussed. Meeting minutes would have to be posted within 15 business days.
There has been a lot of talk at the national and state level about bringing government into the 21st Century and taking advantage of technology to help connect citizens with their government. A bill introduced today would put the force of law behind that talk.
Consider the following sections from SB 6098 - Requiring public agencies, special purpose districts, and municipalities to post certain information on their web sites:
(1) The agenda of all regular meetings of the governing body of every public agency, special purpose district, and any municipality that owns or maintains a web site shall be posted within seventy-two hours before a meeting. The agenda of all special or emergency meetings shall be posted within twenty-four hours before a meeting. The posting shall indicate if the agendas are in draft form.
You could always Google whatever federal document you're looking for, but the new Federal Digital System will now house the originals along with an archive of documents released by the White House Press Office.
More here.The Government Printing Office today launches Federal Digital System (FDsys), the new online home for original federal documents.
Users will eventually be able to search for information from the government's 50 different collections. The site currently hosts the eight most-popular collections, including the Federal Register, the Congressional Record and archive of Congressional hearings. The other collections will be added to the site by this summer, according to GPO's chief information officer Mike Wash.
The new site also marks the launch of the Federal Register's new Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, an archive of executive orders, speeches and other information released by the White House Press Office. The daily online compilation replaces the printed Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.
Public Interest Institute at Iowa Wesleyan College announced the launch of a new Web site that gives users instant access to all the bills, amendments and votes in the Iowa Legislature in concise and plain language.More here.
The Web address is www.iowavotes.org.
It is searchable by legislator, keyword and 50 subject categories, so users can create their own custom voting record guide.
The state of Iowa would have to launch a searchable Web site available to the public to catalog how tax dollars are spent under a bill proposed Wednesday in the Iowa Legislature.More here.
Republican supporters in both houses of the Legislature said during a news conference at the Statehouse that such a Web site would allow for greater transparency in state government by turning all of Iowa’s citizens into budget watchdogs.
They likened keeping track of taxpayer dollars in Iowa to searching through a maze, but they said the proposed Web site would streamline the process.
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