Bills We're Watching

= Introduction =

Sunlight monitors Congressional activity for transparency-related legislation. The following is an unsystematic list of some of the bills we are paying attention to. Our legislative agenda is also available on our Pop Vox profile.

= 112th Congress =

Transparency in Government Act of 2011
H.R. 2340: The Transparency in Government Act of 2011 amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to revise or prescribe requirements for greater disclosure and electronic filing of personal financial information by Members of Congress and congressional officers and employees.

Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement Act
H.R. 2339: The Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement Act requires the Attorney General to establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force. Grants such Task Force primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the Attorney General under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Requires such Task Force to: (1) collect and disseminate information on the enforcement of such Act; (2) audit at least annually the extent of compliance with such Act; and (3) establish, publicize, and operate a toll-free telephone hotline for members of the public to report noncompliance with lobbyist disclosure requirements.

Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to: (1) require notifications of noncompliance of lobbyist diclosure requirements to the Attorney General (instead of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia); (2) amend the definition of "lobbyist" under such Act to eliminate the exemption from such Act of certain lobbyists who work for a client on a part-time basis; (3) require lobbyists to register with the Senate and House of Representatives within 5 days after a lobbying contact (currently, 45 days); and (4) expand disclosure requirements relating to contacts with executive and legislative branch officials and political contributions.


 * Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement Act Introduced - Lisa Rosenberg, June 23, 2011

Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
H.R. 1974: The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act requires the Public Printer to establish and maintain a a website accessible by the public for obtaining electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one place.


 * Improving Public Oversight of Government: The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act - Daniel Schuman, May 25, 2011
 * The "Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act" Is Gaining Traction - Daniel Schuman, June 14, 2011
 * "Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act" Advances to the House Floor - Daniel Schuman, June 23, 2011

Shareholder Protection Act
S.1360 and H.R. 2517: A bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require shareholder authorization before a public company may make certain political expenditures, and for other purposes.


 * Transparency Provisions in the Shareholder Protection Act Important to Disclose Corporate Political Expenditures - Lisa Rosenberg, June 21, 2011
 * Bill Shines a Light on Corporate Political Spending - Lisa Rosenberg, July 13, 2011

Faster FOIA
S. 627 and H.R. 1564: The Faster FOIA Act of 2011 establishes the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays to conduct a study to: (1) identify methods that will help reduce delays in processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted to federal agencies; (2) ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the federal government; (3) examine whether the system for charging fees for such requests and granting waivers of such fees needs to be reformed; (4) determine why the government's use of FOIA exemptions increased during FY2009, whether the increase contributed to delays, what efforts were made by federal agencies to comply with President Obama's January 21, 2009, Presidential Memorandum on Freedom of Information Act Requests, whether those efforts were successful, and how the use of exemptions may be limited; and (5) determine whether any disparities in processing, processing times, and completeness of responses to FOIA requestors have occurred based upon political considerations, ideological viewpoints, the identity of the requestors, affiliation with the media, or affiliation with advocacy groups, why such disparities occurred, and the extent to which political appointees have been involved in the FOIA process.


 * Happy Birthday FOIA: Freedom of information's future - Daniel Schuman, July 1, 2011

Public Online Information Act
S. 717 and H.R. 1349: The Public Online Information Act of 2011 establishes a Public Online Information Advisory Committee to: (1) coordinate and encourage the government's efforts to make information from all three branches of government available on the Internet, and (2) issue and update nonbinding guidelines on how the government should make public information available.

Directs the government to make public records available on the Internet at no charge, except as imposed by federal law before this Act's enactment. Requires: (1) public records to be permanently available on the Internet; (2) current information technology capabilities to be applied to the means by which records are made available and to the formats in which they are available; (3) public records to be made accessible through programs and equipment that are readily available to the general public; and (4) each agency to publish on the Internet a comprehensive, searchable, machine processable list of all records it makes publicly available.

Delineates the roles of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government, and the chief information officers of independent regulatory agencies, including granting narrow case-by-case exceptions to the Internet publication requirement if an agency requests an exception and demonstrates that: (1) there is clear and convincing evidence that the record should not be made available on the Internet, and (2) on balance the harm caused by disclosure significantly outweighs the public's interest in having the record available on the Internet.

Directs the Inspector General of each agency to conduct periodic reviews regarding agency compliance with Internet publication requirements. Sets forth provisions regarding enforcement of public access by private individuals or organizations.

Urges: (1) judicial and legislative agencies to adopt or adapt the Advisory Committee's recommendations, and (2) the Government Printing Office (GPO) to make all of its publications permanently available on the Internet in a multiplicity of formats.


 * Happy Birthday FOIA: Freedom of information's future - Daniel Schuman, July 1, 2011
 * Landmark Public Online Information Act Jointly Reintroduced In House And Senate - Daniel Schuman, April 4, 2011

DATA Act
S. 1222 and H.R. 2146: The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2011 or DATA Act requires each person, state, local, or tribal government (recipient) that receives federal appropriated funds, either directly or as a subcontractor or subgrantee, to report at least once quarterly each receipt and use of such funds to the Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board established by this Act.

Requires each executive agency to report all federal obligations and expenditures to the Board.

Exempts an individual recipient from such reporting requirements if: (1) the total amount of federal funds received does not exceed $100,000 in the current calendar or fiscal year; and (2) no transaction in which the recipient has received federal funds during the current calendar year or fiscal year has exceeded $24,999. Authorizes the Board to grant additional exemptions for classes or categories of recipients.

Requires the Board to designate: (1) common data elements for information required to be reported, and (2) data reporting standards.

Requires the Board to establish one or more websites for the publication of all information submitted by recipients and agencies to serve as a public portal for federal financial information.

Requires the Board to establish a federal accountability portal (an integrated Internet-based system, consisting of one or more websites) to: (1) combine information submitted by recipients and agencies with other compilations of information; (2) permit executive agencies to verify the eligibility of recipients to receive federal funds; and (3) permit executive agencies, Inspectors General (IGs), and law enforcement agencies to track federal awards to find waste, fraud, and abuse.

Establishes the Board in the executive branch. Transfers all functions of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to the Board, including its employees.

Makes conforming amendments to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to terminate the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board on October 1, 2013.

Repeals the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.


 * The DATA Act of 2011: Rep. Issa Introduces Major Federal Spending Transparency Legislation - Daniel Schuman, June 13, 2011
 * Ten Organizations Praise Federal Financial Transparency Efforts - Daniel Schuman, June 21, 2011

= 111th Congress =

Public Online Information Act

 * House version: HR 4858 ([link])
 * Senate version: S 3321 (link])

More resources at [thePOIA.org]

Transparency in Government Act

 * House: HR 4983 ([link])

Earmarks
See aggregation of bills here ([link])

Post-Citizens United legislation (campaign finance)
See aggregation of bills here ([link])

Public Availability of CRS Reports
See aggregation of bills here ([link])

Read The Bill: Instituting a 72-Hour Rule

 * House: H.Res 554 ([link])

More resources here ([link])

Faster FOIA
House: HR 5087 ([link)) Senate: S 3111 ([link))

Senate Online Disclosure of Campaign Finance Reports

 * S 1858 ([link])
 * S 482 ([link])
 * This is also included in the DISCLOSE Act's Senate version

More resources here: http://sunlightfoundation.com/pass482/

Random Bills

 * Require committees to post bill text online w/in 24 hours of adoption: H.Res 835
 * Post Members committee votes online w/in 48 hours: H.Res 874
 * Allow cameras in the Rules Committee: H.Res. 869