One of the benefits of the Congressional Data Coalition has been our ability to collaborate on mutual projects of interest. CDC members recognize that reusable, cleaned-up legislative information, especially the laws themselves, is essential for both the legislative data community and the public. Unfortunately, at least some information will likely not be provided by Congress […]
Continue reading... April 8, 2014
Op-ed: To make Congress more accountable, make it more open
Daniel Schuman and I have a new op-ed on legislative data in The Hill: Nearly two decades ago, Congress began publishing some of its activities online, revolutionizing access to essential public information. The system was called THOMAS, after our third president. Managed by the Library of Congress, it aimed to serve as a central hub […]
Continue reading... April 1, 2014
Advisory: Congressional Data Coalition to launch on 4-04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1 April 2014 CONTACT: Derrick Crowe 202.408.5565; dcrowe@citizensforethics.org CONGRESSIONAL DATA COALITION LAUNCHES TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC ONLINE ACCESS TO LEGISLATIVE PROCESSBipartisan leaders in civic tech discuss redesigning Congress for the digital ageWHAT: Official launch of the Congressional Data Coalition and discussion on public access to congressional information
Continue reading... March 24, 2014
4/04 Day panel and happy hour
The Congressional Data Coalition is hosting a panel and happy hour on April 4 (“4/04 Day”) sponsored by the R Street Institute and CREW, and organized with help from other CDC members. Register for the panel here: http://404day.eventbrite.com. And for the happy hour here: http://404reception.eventbrite.com. Here’s the event description and list of participants: Two decades ago Congress began publishing […]
Continue reading... March 21, 2014
Seeking Google Fellow to help run CDC
The R Street Institute (a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, DC) is accepting applications for its 2014 Google Policy Fellowship in technology policy. R Street’s Google Fellow will have the opportunity to contribute op-eds and blog posts, work on overseeing coalition efforts, and help manage digital and social media projects relating to tech policy. In […]
Continue reading... March 11, 2014
Congressional Data Coalition writes to House appropriators
In a new letter to the House this month, we joined 18 other organizations and individuals in calling for access to the legislative data on bill status that Congress has but won’t share. The letter was sent by the new Congressional Data Coalition, formed this month of citizens, public interest groups, trade associations, and businesses […]
Continue reading... February 26, 2014
Video and presentation from BDTF
In case you weren’t able to attend in person, here’s a video and presentation from Monday’s Bulk Data Task Force meeting.
Continue reading... February 16, 2014
Congressional data: A primer for non-geeks
When the legislative branch started publishing bills and resolutions online in 1995, it was heralded as a revolution in government transparency. The public at last had easy and immediate access to the text of legislation and citizens could better hold their elected officials accountable. But technology has progressed quite a distance since then, and the […]
Continue reading... February 15, 2014
The original text of the Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act was enacted twice, and the one that we know and celebrate is, technically, not the one that became law. This early history of FOIA provides an interesting case study in the complexities of the codification of our federal statutes. What we commonly consider the Freedom of Information Act, S. 1160 in the […]
Continue reading... February 15, 2014
More on counting laws and discrepancies in the Resume of Congressional Activity
After my last post yesterday about Congress incorrectly counting the new laws in 2013, Daniel Schuman (of CREW) suggested that I look at previous installments of the Resume of Congressional Activity to see if there were other long-standing discrepancies in these historical counts of the number of laws passed by each Congress. I went through each of […]
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