Public Data and Websites

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

Stiff Cuts to E-Government in Compromise CR

Apr 12, 2011 by Gavin Baker

The details of the compromise continuing resolution (CR) agreed to late last Friday, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown, have been released. While more analysis is forthcoming, at this point we can say that the CR doesn't look good for e-government.

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Transparency at Risk in Budget Debate

Penny-pinching fever has engulfed Washington, with both parties eager to root out perceived wasteful spending. Several proposals look for savings in the government's information dissemination programs. While some of the proposals are carefully targeted reductions, others would slash funding indiscriminately with damaging consequences to some innovative transparency projects and programs.

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Federal Spending Anxiety to Shut Off Spending Info Website

Apr 1, 2011 by Craig Jennings

At a time when federal spending is the top concern of everyone in Washington, Congress is about to turn off the federal website that tells us where those federal funds are going.

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OMB Watch Assesses Obama Administration's Progress on Open Government Recommendations

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2011—OMB Watch today published an in-depth analysis of the Obama administration's progress on a wide-ranging set of open government recommendations. The recommendations were crafted by a diverse group of organizations and individuals as part of the 21st Century Right to Know Project, which was coordinated by OMB Watch in 2007 and 2008.

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What Does the President's Budget Mean for Transparency?

The president's budget request for fiscal year 2012, released on Feb. 14, is the opening bid in a months-long process to decide how much the federal government will spend on everything from the Navy to open government efforts. The administration's budget proposal is difficult to analyze in terms of open government commitments because it doesn’t include line-item categories for transparency activities. However, it does provide some clues about increases and cuts.

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The Best of State Tax Expenditure Disclosure

Feb 16, 2011 by Joe Cox*

While the federal government offers no insight into where an estimated $1 trillion in tax breaks go every year, some states are beginning to provide information about which corporations benefit from local tax spending programs. None of the state websites are perfect, but their strong suits could be combined to create tools for disclosing federal corporate tax expenditures.

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Building the Next Generation of Open Government Tools

Feb 1, 2011 by Gavin Baker

When the Defense Department began funding research on computer networks in the 1960s and '70s, there was little inkling that it might revolutionize government transparency. Yet today, Internet technologies descended from that research are at the heart of open government efforts.

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Administration Looks to Expand Online Access to Rules

Dec 9, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Obama administration has released a best practices document aimed at improving the efficiency and usability of the federal e-rulemaking system. The best practices could lead to significant improvements for Regulations.gov – the public portal where users can find information and comment on rules.

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Whither Transparency in the Next Congress?

When the 112th Congress convenes in January, attention will be focused on the newly Republican-controlled House. On transparency issues, House Republican leaders have sounded positive tones. However, it remains to be seen whether bipartisan consensus on meaningful transparency can be achieved or whether transparency will be wielded as a partisan weapon.

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E-rulemaking Legislation Seeks Greater Transparency and Participation

On Nov. 17, Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a bill that would expand public participation and transparency in the rulemaking process by improving aspects of the current electronic rulemaking (e-rulemaking) system. The bill would enhance technical aspects of the current federal system, encourage agency experimentation, and allow the public to track rules and better contribute to agency decisions.

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