Adam Friedman » Transparency

Globe: Beacon Hill Fog

Adam — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:01:30 +0000

The Boston Globe just published a substantial feature on transparency — or lack thereof — in Massachusetts government. Click here for the original story. – By David Scharfenberg If you want to see your government in action, just take a seat in the gallery high above the Massachusetts House of Representatives. But don’t take a [...]

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Announcing PD43+: 40 years of Massachusetts election statistics

Adam — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:03:08 +0000

I have an exciting announcement. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin and I have partnered to release PD43+: an elegant, searchable database of election, ballot question, and candidate data for the past 40 years of Massachusetts politics. The information is based on several editions of Public Document 43, Massachusetts’ official report of voter registration, turnout, [...]

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Campaign ad warning labels

Adam — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 05:42:17 +0000

Just as tobacco companies are allowed to sell products that endanger our physical health, so are we permitting any corporation to pour millions into ad campaigns to endanger the health of our political discourse — with their profit-driven, special-interest propaganda. Fine, let’s just ensure they all come tagged with a nifty “Attorney General’s warning,” to [...]

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Globe: Mass Supreme Court allows citizen journalists to record any trial

Adam — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:44:58 +0000

Reprinted from The Boston Globe. Click here for the original article. This is a breakthrough for open government advocates in Massachusetts and around the US. All that’s left is for the court system or a media organization to set up one unmanned camera in every single hearing room (and a good omnidirectional mic), and then, [...]

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MWDN: Investigation shows state lagging in online presence

Adam — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:02:23 +0000

[Adam’s note: The following is a re-post of a brilliant MetroWest Daily News article penned by Katie Lannan and Adam Tamburin (original source). If we the people of Massachusetts got angry and active enough, we could force our representatives to solve these serious transparency gaps within a few years.] – Second in a series. Although the [...]

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Globe: Legislators’ vital work veiled from public’s eye

Adam — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:28:20 +0000

I had to re-post this from The Boston Globe, as it captures a central fight we must wage for government openness in Massachusetts. Here is the link to the original article. – July 08, 2011 | By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff The $30.6 billion budget approved by the Legislature last week was negotiated almost entirely [...]

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South Carolina passes law requiring roll-call votes

Adam — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:07:25 +0000

Before the passage of H3004: The Spending and Accountability Act of 2011, 75 percent of all legislative votes in the South Carolina General Assembly were voice votes, in which no legislators’ vote is recorded for the public record (source: South Carolina Policy Council). Thanks to a three-year battle waged by now-Governor Nikki Haley and a [...]

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White House releases Open Government Directive

Adam — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:54:14 +0000

The Obama administration, as of December 8th, 2009, is requiring every government agency to release three high-value data sets to the public within 45 days. The Sunlight Foundation reports: In a livestreamed chat, blogpost, and document online, the White House has announced a bold new plan for openness in the Executive Branch. The result of [...]

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