The Right-To-Know Resource Center provides critical resources on news of the day. Geared for reporters and other advocates who need background information on a timely issue, the Resource Center provides the context for understanding current events. For example, a recent Washington Post story focused on the long reach of a short law, the Data Quality Act, which allows the public (including corporations) to challenge the data underlying government rules. The Resource Center has background on the law and how the private sector uses it, along with recent reports by OMB Watch.

The U.S. attorney's office invoked the rarely used Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) to limit the amount of information disclosed in a case against two men arrested in Albany, N.Y. This comes on the same day media sources revealed that the document the FBI used to link one of the men to terrorists was incorrectly translated.

On August 19, OMB Watch released a new report, "Recent Trends in Nonprofit Employment and Earnings: 1990-2004," which examines the recent history of employment and compensation trends in the nonprofit sector. It found that while growth in nonprofit employment continued during the 2001 recession and immediately after, it stalled over the past year, with significant declines in average hours worked, weekly earnings, and hourly wages. Data on individual states reflect this nationwide pattern.

Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966 and amended the law in 1974. The purpose of the law was to create a more open and accountable government. The law establishes that government agencies must provide any information requested, if they possess the information, unless specific restriction prohibit the public release of the information. FOIA has become a fundamental tool for obtaining information and promoting accountability with the government and industry. FOIA's Uses