Sunshine Week Hearings and Legislation Promote Government Transparency

Several bills were introduced last week to commemorate Sunshine Week, a national initiative spearheaded by the News Leaders Association to educate the public about the importance of open government.

First, the Transparency in Government Act was re-introduced by Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL). It would expand financial disclosure requirements for both lawmakers and lobbyists, modernize how the public accesses financial disclosures, and improve judicial transparency by requiring all federal judicial disclosure forms be available online.

Lisa Rosenberg, executive director of Open The Government, applauded this initiative and said, “The Transparency in Government Act includes provisions that encourage transparency as a core value across all branches of the federal government. Specifically, it includes essential reforms to the Freedom of Information Act that would enhance public access to information, meaningful disclosure requirements for lawmakers and lobbyists, and measures to reduce the body of secret law that impacts the public without its knowledge.”

Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Justification Act was unanimously approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC). It would make congressional budget justifications available online in a central location managed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The PLUM Act, which would require the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to keep a public list of the people holding senior government positions, including whether the position is filled or vacant, was reintroduced in both chambers of Congress by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) (H.R. 2043) and Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) (S. 857), respectively.

Several open government groups, including Demand Progress, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), and Americans for Prosperity, expressed support for the PLUM Act and stated in a letter, “The PLUM Act would resolve an important issue raised by the Government Accountability Office, which noted in a March 2019 report that there is no single source of data on political appointees serving in the executive branch that is publicly available, comprehensive. It would address GAO’s conclusion that such a source of information would facilitate congressional oversight and hold leaders accountable.”

A bill to increase the transparency of federal advisory committees was introduced in both chambers by Representative Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH). The Federal Employee Access to Information Act was reintroduced Reps. Maloney (D-NY) and Gerald Connelly (D-VA) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The bill would protect federal employees from retaliation for exercising their right to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act requests.

Americans for Prosperity published several essays from government scholars attesting to why government transparency is important. One essay by James Valvo and Ryan P. Mulvey, both of whom work at Americans for Prosperity, explained, “America’s political system is founded on the idea of self-government and consent of the governed. The people elect, staff, administer, and participate in the government that rules the country. But that basic task of citizen engagement in government is frustrated when government operates under a veil of secrecy.”