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Taxonomy: Term ID

Bill Proposes Taking Peer Review Away from OMB

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member of the House Government Reform Committee, and Bart Gordon (D-TN), ranking member of the House Science Committee, introduced the Restore Scientific Integrity to Federal Research and Policymaking Act (H.R. 839) Feb. 16, which would move authority for federal peer review standards away from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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FCC Requests Exemption in Open Meetings Law

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation requesting an exemption from the open meeting requirements of the Government in Sunshine Act.

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Industry Challenges D.C. Ban on Hazmat Rerouting

The rail company banned from shipping hazardous cargo through the nation’s capital has filed a suit to overturn the emergency legislation that was enacted earlier this month. The local law bans rail shipments of hazardous cargo from a 2.2-mile radius around the U.S.

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DHS Finally Speaks on CII

Almost a full year ago OMB Watch filed a request, under the Freedom of Information Act, to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for information on their Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) program. The request sought an accounting of how the program was used thus far including the number of submissions, rejections, and communications, as well as program procedures for handling information. Unfortunately, DHS was not very prompt with answers. In fact, it took a summons filed in the DC Circuit Court to get even a few pieces of basic information about the CII program.

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Nuclear Commission Expands Secrecy Provisions

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to expand the amount of information that can be withheld from the public as Safeguards Information (SGI). The new rule would amend existing SGI regulations to cover more types of information by inserting language and adding a new category of covered information — Safeguards Information-Modified Handling (SGI-M).

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Cornyn-Leahy Bipartisan Bill Would Strengthen FOIA

In perhaps one of the most significant moves to advance openness and accountability within the federal government in the last decade, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the public’s hand in obtaining information from federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Entitled the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National (OPEN) Government Act (S. 394), the legislation would:

Allow the public to recoup legal costs from the federal government for improperly withheld documents;

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How Do You Measure Program Results?

For more than five years, the Bush administration has focused a good portion of its rhetoric on performance, accountability and results. To that end, in 2001, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) began to develop a mechanism called the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to help budget examiners and federal managers measure the effectiveness of government programs.

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‘Slow Down’ Is the Bipartisan Buzz for Social Security

As President Bush continues his efforts to raise anxiety across the country about the Social Security program, more and more members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, are starting to speak uniformly on the need for patience in working towards a solution. Even House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan urged caution and called for further debate in approaching Social Security reform this past week.

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Negative Reactions to Budget Come from Both Sides of the Aisle

President Bush’s release of his budget proposal on Feb. 7 confirmed widespread speculation that its contents would prove unfavorable for a number of important agencies and social programs. The president stated many times in the weeks leading up to the budget release that his proposal for fiscal year 2006 (FY 06) would be “tough.” In a bold effort to cut our national deficit in half — the same deficit which is mostly the result of his costly tax policies — Bush proposed slicing and dicing funding for many domestic programs, which would result in the termination of some.

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Options for Tax Reform

Feb 22, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Last week the administration released the 2005 Economic Report of the President. The report includes - among other details - a chapter on options for tax reform, which the President has expressed interest in looking into during his second term. To look into tax reform options, Bush has put together an advisory panel on federal tax reform; you can see a list of the members of that panel here. Members of the panel met for the first time last wednesday to discuss how they can go about reforming the tax code to make it simpler, fairer, and more pro-growth to benefit all Americans. The panel will submit their recommendations to Treasury Secretary John Snow in July. Today's BNA news services reports that the Chairman of the panel, former Senator Connie Mack (R-FL), is calling for public comments to be made on problems faced by both individuals and businesses under current tax laws. Comments are requested by March 18th. See this page for more information on how you can submit comments to the panel.

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Feb 22, 2005 by Guest Blogger

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