Each March, individuals and organizations from across the country come together to celebrate the birthday of James Madison and his commitment to an open and accountable government.  Events during the week occur across the country and are free to attend; they officially kick-off Sunday, March 15 and end on Friday, March 20.

Sunshine is a prescription that government needs now, more than ever.  Since Sept. 11, 2001, our society has shifted from one based on the public’s right to know to one premised on the need to know, where the government determines the need.  Yet, our federal government is in debt of historic proportions, is waging multiple wars overseas, and is experiencing the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression.  Transparency is a powerful tool to demonstrate to the public that the government is spending our money wisely, that government is operating in an accountable manner, and that decisions are being made to ensure the safety and protection of all Americans.

Last November, OMB Watch and a coalition of right-to-know advocates joined together to submit a set of recommendations to then-President-elect Obama.  These recommendations were supported by a group of over 280 individuals and organizations and published in a report, titled Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda: Recommendations to President-elect Obama and Congress.  The seventy recommendations urged the new president and the 111th Congress to act quickly on a number of key government openness issues while encouraging a more systemic, longer-term approach to a variety of other transparency problems that plague the federal government.  Government openness advocates also placed a high priority on modernizing the government's use of technology to manage and disclose information.

And swift action is what we got from President Obama.  On his first day in office, Obama promised “a new standard of openness.”  As part of this initiative, he issued a presidential memo that mandated a broad vision for a government that was transparent, participatory, and collaborative as well as memo ordering agencies to use a presumption of openness when implementing the Freedom of Information Act.

While we are hopeful for change at the federal level, transparency remains an issue at every level of government.  To keep our interests secure, we need sunshine to make sure that federal, state, and local entities are communicating efficiently and effectively.  The events of Sunshine Week will bring this much needed dialogue to the national table so that we can seek transparency at all levels of government.  Many states have events going on this year.  To find out what is going on in Washington, DC, and in different states, please see SunshineWeek.org or contact Debra Gersh Hernandez.