Publications

Wyoming Supreme Court Advances Disclosure of Fracking Chemicals

In a partial victory, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that Wyoming's District Court must reconsider public disclosure requests for chemicals used in fracking fluid, and the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) cannot simply claim information on fracking chemicals is protected under a trade secrets exemption. The lawsuit could set an important precedent in the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing.

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White House Lays Foundation for Agencies to Design New Open Government Initiatives

How can federal agencies be more responsive in making the information they gather and hold available to the public? Agencies are currently grappling with that question as they prepare new "open government plans" required by the White House. On Feb. 28, the Obama administration issued guidance to outline the approach that agencies should take with the next set of open government plans, which are due June 1, 2014.

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Portman Proposal Limits Environmental Reviews and Public Input on Proposed Development Projects

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is pushing ahead with his campaign against public safeguards, using a subcommittee hearing on March 11 that was designed to discuss ways to improve the effectiveness of our regulatory system to promote yet another anti-regulatory bill, the Federal Permitting Improvement Act of 2013. The bill would require faster environmental impact assessments under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for proposed major infrastructure projects and limit public input in, and oversight of, federal decision making.

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A Tale of Two Corporate Tax Plans

Last month, House Ways and Means Chairman David Camp (R-MI) released his long awaited tax reform package. In it, he proposed overhauling the corporate tax code, eliminating many deductions and loopholes.

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Idaho's "Ag-Gag" Law Threatens Transparency, Food Safety, and Workers' Rights

On Feb. 28, Idaho became the seventh state in the country to criminalize filming abusive or otherwise unethical activities on farms. These laws (dubbed "ag-gag" laws) limit transparency and keep Americans in the dark about food safety problems. Activists, journalists, and whistleblowers play a vital role in exposing animal abuse, unsafe working conditions, and other violations on farms.

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Attempts to Use Congressional Review Act for Proposed Rules Threaten All Public Safeguards

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has recently taken an unprecedented action by introducing a joint resolution to disapprove of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed greenhouse gas emissions limits for new power plants. Through the resolution, McConnell is attempting to utilize the accelerated legislative procedures provided in the Congressional Review Act, even though the law was designed only for reviewing final agency rules.

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Making the Grade: Access to Information Scorecard 2014

A building block of American democracy is the idea that as citizens, we have a right to information about how our government works and what it does in our name. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires federal agencies to promptly respond to public requests for information unless disclosure of the requested information would harm a protected interest. Unfortunately, since its passage in 1966 and reform in 1974, federal agencies have failed to implement the law consistently, which can make it challenging for citizens to gain access to public information as the law guarantees.

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Report Card Finds Federal Agencies Still Struggling to Implement the Freedom of Information Act -- 48 Years After Passage

On March 10, the Center for Effective Government released a report card grading federal agencies on their implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The overall results were disappointing: no agency earned a top overall grade of an A, and half received failing grades. The good news is that in each of the three performance areas we investigated, at least one agency earned an A.

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Re-Imagining Government: Affordable Banking

For the last 30 years, various political leaders have launched efforts to "Reinvent Government." Done in the name of making government more efficient, these initiatives have most often centered on reducing the size of the government workforce, by handing over to the for-profit sector services that have long been provided by government employees. The goal was to save money, but all too often, unintended consequences have included a troubling lack of accountability and deteriorating public services.

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E-Gov Spotlight: Product Safety Site Helps Protect Children, Families

In August 2008, six-month-old Kennedy Brotherton Jones died when her head got trapped in her bassinet. Her parents later learned that another child had died in the same way in the same model of bassinet a year earlier. That death had been reported to federal product safety authorities, but the danger had not been communicated to the public – including Kennedy’s parents. Today, a government website provides information that can help prevent future tragedies.

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