Governor Glenn Youngkin announced on Wednesday the Virginia Permit Transparency (VPT) website, expanding a program Forbes hailed as “a model for other states” to include three Virginia agencies with more to follow.
The governor’s office explained in a press release that the VPT provides the public with “a centralized platform” to track daily status of their permit application.
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Some Republicans and Democrats agree Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act should be reformed and will propose legislation later this year.
Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Southfield Democrat, called FOIA reform a “good government” issue. A 2015 report gave Michigan an ‘F’ grade for government transparency and accountability.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in studio to explain the State Funding Board’s role and reasons for the new business swell to Tennessee.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee Coalition for Open Government’s Deborah Fisher to the newsmaker line to weigh in on the Nashville Post lawsuit and to outline deliberative process privilege.
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Politics is getting in the way of government transparency, preventing the sort of accountability on which our governing institutions depend for maintaining public trust and legitimacy.
In Wisconsin and elsewhere around the country, public officials are steadfastly refusing to answer basic questions about their official conduct from the people’s elected representatives. These are not salacious questions about their personal conduct, or fishing expeditions designed to stir up political scandal. Legislators are merely seeking to better understand how appointed bureaucrats and elected officials administered the 2020 elections amidst a pandemic and an unprecedented, and in many cases unlawful, infusion of private monies into public election offices.
Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, for instance, has sued to block a legislative subpoena seeking voter information as part of an investigation of the state’s voter registration system, known as SURE. Even though there is ample precedent for disclosing this type of information, the AG’s lawsuit argues that it would violate citizens’ right to privacy, as though allowing lawmakers to access government records would automatically compromise the security of that information.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Tennessee Coalition for Open Government’s Executive Director Deborah Fisher in studio to talk about their mission.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Executive Director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, Deborah Fisher in studio to discuss reports lacking information on clawbacks yet redeemed.
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