Scott A. Hodes maintains that there are pros and cons to setting up an ombudsman’s office, and the overall scheme may not be the answer in resolving the number of disputes that arise in the disclosure of public records.
Scott A. Hodes recommends four substantive ways in which agency accountability will lead to more effective and efficient processing of FOIA requests.
Beth Wellington reviews the background and legislation associated with card check-off campaigns to establish union representation, as well as the current political and corporate positions.
Peggy Garvin explores the evolution in the features and services provided by GovTrack, the free, public, independent web service with information on federal legislation, congressional documents, legislators, and votes. She also profiles a site with complementary content on lobbying activity and campaign contributions.
Paul Jenks provides background, perspective and insight into the audience, content and role of a trio of newspapers of record for what he calls the “most inherently partisan institution in the country.” These papers, available in print and online versions, are significant resources for anyone tracking the Hill and Congress.
Beth Wellington reviews the administration’s position on FY 2008 funding for nuclear power programs, as well as the impact of these programs on climate change.
The 110th Congress included not only new names and faces on the Hill, but a plethora of redesigned e-government sites, many of which are still very much under development. In her column this month, Peggy Garvin focuses on the changes in the House of Representatives website.
Sabrina I. Pacifici’s completely updated and revised guide provides links to Federal and State sponsored resources on legislation, legislative issues and government reports, and also includes a range of current, topical content on politics and campaigns published by the media, advocacy groups, NGOs and political parties.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has for the first time released a massive two-part compilation of Comptroller General decisions and opinions that are included in two Excel spreadsheets. The first spreadsheet contains decisions from 1990 through present The second spreadsheet contains decisions prior to 1990. Michael Ravnitzky reports the details.
Sabrina I. Pacifici has revised and updated her guide to a core group of reliable, content rich resources for researchers. Highlighted topics include: a new search engine for legal blogs, one for free federal district court filings, and one for Wikipedia; an updated legal research guide from M.G. Gallagher Law Library, government sponsored e-waste and recycling services, a filmology of librarians in the movies, the 10 best corporate intranets of 2007, the launch of the Anglo-American Legal Tradition Project Website, and much more.