Free. Easy. All Online. Public interest in Congressional activity surged in recent years. Confusion, misinformation, and outright lies abound. But we can get accurate information without extensive web searches. All official Congressional activity is available on one website. Have you ever wanted to read the text of a bill for yourself, while Congress debates it?Read… Read more »
Let’s face it folks, if anyone deserves to be furloughed these days it’s obviously the U.S. Congress. The so-called “People’s House” has become a house of shame – a “Do Nothing” Congress. Our august national legislative body has turned its back on the American people for partisan political purposes and personal political self-interest. Our brokenRead… Read more »
On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: For the past four year the US Public Interest Group has graded each of the 50 states on their level of transparency. While 7 states made the honor roll, six states received failing grades. How did your state do? We take an indepth look with Phineas Baxandall. But up front: lawmakersRead… Read more »
Originally post at Federal Communicators Network. Sign up for their newsletter! It’s free and it will make you more popular. I’d like to introduce you to someone: your agency’s Congressional Liaison. She might have any of a variety of phrases in her title, such as “Legislative Specialist” or “Intergovernmental Affairs,” but I’ll just call herRead… Read more »
On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: The headlines surrounding sequestration have slowed down, but that doesn’t mean its gone away for feds. In fact, the effects of sequestration are piling up at agencies. The Partnership for Public Service has tips to balancing your work and sequestration. Click here for the full recap. What’s the biggest challenge facingRead… Read more »
Originally posted at the Government Affairs Institute The continuing resolution (CR) that passed in the House on March 6 was expected to easily pass in the Senate last week (wait a minute; did I just say “easily pass in the Senate”?). Both bills would fund the government at sequester level spending through September 30. TheRead… Read more »
I wanted to share this recent post by my colleague Mark Nadel at the Government Affairs Institute who shares an interesting point about government leadership in difficult situations: “when individual desire is about to trump the common good, the decision maker must tie his hands behind his back to avoid disastrous results.” There are aRead… Read more »
Originally posted at The Government Affairs Institute Both chambers remain on course to pass a largely uncontroversial extension of the expiring continuing resolution (CR) that will be comprised of an omnibus and probably five out of the 12 individual appropriations bills. It will set FY13 discretionary spending at $984b, equal to the sequester level, butRead… Read more »
Every city has them, the unusable old buildings and empty lots that remain cut off from the public sphere. They’re former factories or disposal areas where hazardous substances, pollutants, or other contaminant is hanging around for one reason or another. They’re undeveloped, contaminated, usually abandoned, and they’re a thorn in the side of any communityRead… Read more »
Yesterday the House passed a six-month FY13 continuing resolution (CR) that maintains sequester level spending for the remainder of the fiscal year, but provides appropriations to Defense and Milcon-VA. The measure, HR 933, passed by a vote of 267-151, would extend the federal pay freeze but grants military personnel a 1.7 percent pay increase. ItRead… Read more »