Category: Actions

A coalition of transparency advocates urged the Office of Management and Budget to comply with President Obama’s plan to promote open government. The OMB is expected to produce an open government plan, “describ[ing] how it will improve transparency.” However, OMB Has failed to act even as the Administration has urged other governments to adopt similar plans. “The failure is particularly troubling,” wrote the groups, “because OMB is an agency with a central oversight role on information policy, it has responsibility for implementation of this plan, and it often serves as the right hand of the President.”

A coalition of open government organizations submitted a letter to the Office of Management and Budget regarding revisions to Circular A-130, a government policy for access to information resources. The groups expressed concern about a poorly designed Internet service — GitHub — that created “new barriers to public participation in government decision-making.” The coalition called on the OMB to “ensure meaningful public participation by notifying the public of opportunities to comment and accepting comments in other formats.”

After receiving opposition from open government advocates and support from Senators Patrick Leahy, John Cornyn, and Charles Grassley, the Senate has removed “b(3)” Freedom of Information Act exemptions from the Senate’s transportation bill. The exemptions would exclude public access to important information about safety audits, trucking company safety scores, accident footage, and records related to hazardous train service. The final bill passed the Senate 65 to 34 without the controversial language, which Senator Leahy called “bad FOIA provisions” that should have been first reviewed by the Judiciary Committee.

A coalition of leading consumer rights, human rights, and civil liberties organizations have petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to end the FCC’s rule requiring mass retention of phone records. Currently, the FCC requires phone companies to retain sensitive information on all customers, including name, address, telephone number, telephone number dialed, date, time, and length of the call for 18 months. The petition states that the FCC’s mandate “violates the fundamental right to privacy, exposes consumers to data breaches, stifles innovation, and reduces competition. It is outdated and ineffective. It should end.”

A coalition of open government advocates has urged Congress to pass FOIA reform legislation. In response to a request from the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the coalition expressed support for the FOIA Act of 2015, specifically praising a provision limiting the use of Exemption 5, which has enabled the growth of secret law.

A coalition of civil society groups set out recommendations for the US National Action Plan, an initiative pursued by countries and NGOs participating in the Open Government Partnership. The US NGOs urged the United States to commit to several goals including publication of FISC opinions, improving FOIA, and strengthening privacy safeguards.