A little bit of everything
Eight out of the 10 highest paid lobbyists in 2012 are on track to retain their titles in 2013, while business spending on lobbyists shifted from gambling to health care, according to a post-session report released by the State Ethics Commission. For the six month reporting period from Nov. 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013, lobbyists have reported earning $23 million.
Read moreStateStat is a substantial part of Maryland state government’s transparency enhancements relating to performance measurement. The program was much touted in the early days of the O’Malley-Brown administration, but now chugs along in obscurity. While StateStat conveys much information, it can be substantially improved so that it comes close to living up to the high expectations inherent in the governor’s StateStat messaging.
Read moreWho will protect us from those who are supposed to protect us? That is the question that lingers after the disclosure of two programs that monitor the phone records and Internet use of millions of Americans by the National Security Agency, based at Maryland’s Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County.
Read moreTo better understand the state’s challenges to political transparency, the OpenGov Foundation and MarylandReporter.com teamed up to lead a small focus group last Thursday to analyze the access point to all of Maryland’s State House information — the state legislative website. The conclusion? Transparency in Maryland has a long way to go.
Read moreThe OpenGov Foundation just released MarylandCode.org, a user-friendly, searchable and downloadable publication of the Maryland Code of law. The project unpacks the dense, inaccessible code on the state website and encourages citizen participation through transparency. “The state site is a good start, but it’s not intuitive, and it’s locked in PDF so you can’t do anything with the data,” explained OpenGov’s Seamus Kraft. “We spent the last six to eight weeks really reworking the Maryland code data into a form that is useful to both coders and everyday people.”
Read moreAccording to a report by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Maryland received a C grade for transparency in government spending this year. The grade, which is based on the state’s transparency website, is a half step down from last year’s C+.
Read moreThe Washington Examiner, the right-leaning tabloid, is not officially dying, but its owner announced Tuesday it is ceasing daily publication and laying off its local staff, including its Maryland reporters at the State House and in Montgomery County. It will retain its name but become a national weekly on politics.
Read moreLocal governments are once again trying to change a requirement that they post legal notices in print newspapers, arguing that in the electronic age they should be able to post online and save taxpayers millions.The bill’s main opposition comes from newspapers, who argue that their publications reach a wider audience than a municipal website.
Read moreThe House of Delegates in a 125-10 vote Tuesday approved changes in the Open Meetings Act to boost penalties and establish other requirements. But one delegate complained that the changes didn’t go far enough, and would penalize the citizens it was designed to help.
Read moreIt was not a great week for openness and transparency at the State House. Perhaps it is more accurate to say it was business as usual in Annapolis, with a few events reminding us that while much of the public business has become remarkably accessible over the Internet, much of it still happens behind closed doors.
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