Ohio should act quickly to broadcast House hearings

My latest from Ohio Watchdog:

OHIO CHANNEL: Ohioans may soon
be able to view committee
 hearings as well as general
 House sessions if Rep.
 Dan Ramos’ bill is passed.

Rep. Dan Ramos is right. All Ohio House legislative hearings should be broadcast and made available to the public.

Ramos, D-Lorain, is sponsoring H.B. 262, which would require the Ohio government telecommunications service to broadcast all 23 standing committee meetings as they occur.

Too bad his bill doesn’t include the Senate.

So far, he has 11 co-sponsors, including two Republicans, but there should be more – from both sides of the aisle.

“Ensuring transparency in and accessibility to government is one of the primary responsibilities we have as elected officials to the taxpayers across this state,” Ramos said in announcing the bill.

He knows – as do all legislators – that not everyone can travel to Columbus to hear testimony or take part in the legislative process.

Too often, Ohioans are surprised by new bills they only hear about after they’ve been passed. Their ability to weigh in on pending legislation or communicate with their legislators about what’s been said in a hearing is virtually non-existent unless they, or someone they know, was there.

“Ohioans still deserve access to their state government,” Ramos said.

If the bill passes, residents can be more actively involved in the process, rather than getting in after the fact.

The Ohio Channel already airs full voting sessions of the House and Senate — theHouse Finance and Appropriations Committee hearings were broadcast so Ohioans could see the budget process in action.

The best part about the broadcasts is they’re streamed live online and archived, so you can watch at your convenience.

But how much will it cost?

Well, the equipment needed to air all the committee hearings was bought under H.B. 562 in 2008, but it’s been sitting mostly unused in state storage. It was, however, used for this year’s finance hearings.

Since the roughly $300,000 in equipment is paid for and the Ohio Channel infrastructure is in place, it shouldn’t cost anything more to place the cameras in the committee rooms and turn them on.

“As legislators, we shouldn’t be picking and choosing which committees are broadcast,” Ramos said.

Indeed, and others agree.

Brian Rothenberg, executive director of Progress Ohio, a nonprofit advocacy group, said his group called for the committee hearings to be broadcast two sessions ago, when it was clear the equipment was available but wasn’t being used.

“Anytime the public can see government through the light of day, it’s a win for the public,” he said.

John McAvoy, a spokesman for the Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition, was equally supportive.

“If I wish to be actively involved in these proceedings, I must drive seven hours round trip to listen and participate, or wait for a summary from Gongwer (a legislative reporting service) or transcripts from the website,” he said. “This would significantly add transparency and, more importantly, knowledgeable, informed voters to the governance process.”

The bill was introduced Sept. 10 and has not yet been assigned to a committee, but the House did just return to session, so the assignment should happen shortly.

For Ohioans, it can’t be too soon.

Sunshine Week 2013

Hey - it's Sunshine Week!

Yes, despite the prediction of rain for today, it is the start of Sunshine Week, where we celebrate and embrace our right to know things about our governments.

It's made possible due to support from Bloomberg LP and the John S. and James L Knight Foundations. It's a national initiative to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information.

In Ohio, we're very fortunate to have one of the best public records laws in the country. Just about anything you'd want to know about what's going on in your township, city, county, state, school, or other public entity, is covered and your access to that information is a priority.

It's all right there in Ohio Revised Code 149.43, but in case reading codified law isn't your thing, there is the Ohio Sunshine Book.

For years, Attorneys General and State Auditors of Ohio have jointly published this handy reference guide that tells you, in plain language, what the law says; it also includes information about open meetings laws that public bodies must follow. The book is available on line, or you can order a printed copy or CD for free from the AG.

Take a moment to check it out. Know what the requirements are for Ohio public bodies and then make sure your *favorite* entity is following the rules. Also, make a public records request. It's pretty easy and you may be surprised what you find out.

It's your government - using public records laws to hold it accountable is your responsibility!

So, let the sun shine in!

Ohio House to go digital with legislative documents, broadcast budget hearings

Congrats to the Ohio House of Representatives for their plan to increase transparency and allow greater public access to drafts of bills and other legislative documents. They also plan to broadcast budget hearings, both online and on television.

This will make it easier for citizens and watchdogs to know what is going on in Columbus - and respond accordingly before votes are cast.

Gongwer Ohio reports:

House Speaker Bill Batchelder on Monday said the House plans to broadcast online and on television hearings on the budget bill and make more legislative documents available on the Internet.

The move towards increased transparency was announced in the leader's speech during opening day ceremonies in the House. The chamber also elected its majority and minority leaders.

The speaker said the ability to make legislative information and hearings more accessible comes through rules approved by the chamber about eight years ago.

"We will be unveiling a system that will make legislative information significantly more accessible to our public and to our constituency," he told the chamber. "This new platform will revolutionize the legislative drafting process and will make documents like bill drafts and other legislative materials easily available to the public online."

The speaker said this should improve on the past process of laying out amendments on a table in his office - a process that drew little interest.

The House will also broadcast the hearings of the House Finance & Appropriations Committee over the Internet and on television throughout the budget process, "allowing people to delve into the budget process from their own homes or from their mobile device. This alone is an unprecedented step forward in terms of legislative transparency."

Some of the Finance subcommittees would likely also be broadcast during the budget cycle, he said. Other committee hearings could be broadcast depending on what legislation is being heard. He referenced the House Agriculture Committee's hearings on exotic animals last session that drew expansive public interest.

He said he plans to work with members of the Statehouse press corps to determine what its needs are.

"These initiatives are being implemented to collaborate with our partners in the Senate, in order to accomplish saving taxpayers significant amounts of money; we also, I think, will find that there are a great number of people who will be able to benefit from access to these processes of electronics," he said.

Feds order Ohio to use stimulus funds for shovel-ready projects

A press release from U.S. Rep. John Boehner:

Boehner Statement on Federal Officials Ordering Ohio to Shut Down Its Transportation Slush Fund

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) issued the following statement after federal officials ordered the Ohio Department of Transportation to kill a $57 million slush fund to study projects and put the money into shovel-ready projects:

“The stated intent of the so-called stimulus package was to create jobs, and certainly a $57 million slush fund studying projects did nothing to achieve that goal. With Ohio’s unemployment rate the highest it’s been in 25 years, I’m pleased that federal officials stepped in to order Ohio to use all of its construction dollars for shovel-ready projects that will create much-needed jobs.”

NOTE: Ohio’s Republican congressional delegation wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in April asking him to investigate Ohio’s plans to create the slush fund after media reports disclosed the fund’s existence. U.S. House Republicans also wrote to Gov. Strickland expressing their frustration that Ohio would spend money to study projects that may never get built while denying shovel-ready jobs that would create jobs immediately.

This is second allocation of “stimulus” dollars Ohio has been forced to rescind. Last week, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reversed its decision to award $1.1 million to clean up a Cold War-era weapons facility that was declared clean two years ago. Despite continued misuse of “stimulus” dollars, Gov. Strickland refuses to establish an independent, bipartisan oversight board to ensure Ohioans that their federal tax dollars are being spent appropriately.

Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County. He was first elected to Congress in 1990.

Republicans need credibility before demanding transparency

Jeff Emanuel, writing at Red State, posted this tidbit last night:

Yesterday, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, submitted a motion that would have instructed members of the House/Senate conference finalizing the “stimulus” bill to make the final conference agreement available online “in an electronic, searchable, and downloadable form for at least 48 hours” before the House and Senate took their final votes on the borrow-and-spend monstrosity.

236 Democrats voted in favor of the motion. Not one voted against it.

Despite this, House Democrats are preparing to ignore the motion they voted for in order to pass this spending bill as quickly as possible.

A House contact told me via email:

[The motion to instruct] is not legally binding – motions to instruct are often ignored by Democratic conferees – but that is primarily because they believe they can get away with doing so in the court of public opinion.

The bottom line is that they all voted for it yesterday, and if they opt to ignore it today by refusing to allow a 48-hour online review before a vote, it is because they are betting that their duplicity will not be noticed by their constituents.

That sounds about right for this crowd.

Transparency is an issue that crosses party lines - there is no Republican or Democrat philosophical difference when it comes to making sure that the public knows what is going on. You will find proponents of 'openness' on all sides of the political spectrum.

But despite a strong desire from the public, our representatives in Washington - who speak a lot about it - are not very good at follow-through. As Jon Henke at The Next Right writes:

Transparency is an area of genuine opportunity for progress right now, because (1) the majority party promised they would do it, and (2) the minority party has a political incentive to hold the majority to their promise.

However, as easy and obvious a policy as transparency seems, there are also two problems with it: (1) the majority now has a political disincentive to be transparent, and (2) the minority has no credibility to insist upon it.
...
Transparency is good, but Republicans cannot simply endorse transparency measures that make life more difficult for Democrats. Republicans cannot (as they did last year) reduce "transparency" to "policies that make it politically easier for us to pursue our agenda."

As he rightly points out, the GOP had the opportunity to institute such policies when they were in charge, but didn't, so they look pretty ridiculous, now that they're in the minority, saying that transparency is a necessity.

Henke is also right when he says that the "key to Republican credibility ... is actual, unilateral leadership," and he makes three suggestions for how to achieve such credibility:

First, Congressional Republicans must designate an outside, non- or bi-partisan group of experts and advocates to design an ideal, accomplishable set of transparency rules. And that process itself must be transparent.

Second, Congressional Republicans must, unilaterally and without condition, embrace expansive - even uncomfortable and politically inconvenient - transparency and disclosure rules for the House and Senate Republicans.

Third, Congressional Republicans - after having adopted a non-partisan standard of transparency and disclosure - should propose to universalize those rules (on an all-or-nothing basis) across Congress.

The problem, as we all know, is that transparency is wanted by everyone except those in power. But as Henke says:

"If Republicans want to demonstrate a commitment to actual reform, this is the way to accomplish it. It would be good policy, it addresses crucial problems, and it is something Republicans have in their power to accomplish. What's more, while it would make many in Congress unhappy, it would be publicly popular."

I don't want to work...

The song "Bang on the Drum," by Todd Rundgren, keeps going through my head as I look at the blue sky and bright sun.

I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day

And it's Friday, too, which makes the feeling even worse...

But, alas, the cold weather means work is actually a viable alternative to banging on a drum all day. So...

Here's a round-up of some interesting stories:

Cassy Fiano has a great post about transparency - or lack thereof - in the Obama administration. She's added a video of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dismissing a question on access to records and then asking the reporter if he had a 'more pertinent' question. Reporter Jake Trapper then bangs Gibbs upside the head by declaring his quest for transparency 'fairly pertinent.'

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow is banging on the Fairness Doctrine, by calling it 'accountability' and a 'set of standards.' Of course, she fails to mention her clear conflict of interest during the linked interview. You see, her husband, Tom Anthans, is the former executive vice president of Air America's syndication division and previously ran Democracy Radio, another liberal talk radio upstart, which folded in 2005. In the spring of last year, Athans announced his new venture, Talk USA Radio, though I could find nothing on the Internet about its status today.

No wonder she wants to push for 'balance' ....

Americans are banging up on the so-called stimulus package (aka: porkulus). Rasmussen reports in their latest poll that support for the bill continues to fall with only 37% now in favor. Of course, President Obama is trying to scare us into believing that without the bill, we're doomed, so it needs to be passed right away. However, many people are beginning to think that the rush is just so we don't find out what's really in the bill - like insurance exemptions for companies that make boats bigger than 65 feet in length.

This is why transparency is so critical

13ABC has a special report on spending by the Mayor's office.

They detail 2,000 different expenditures to 1,700 vendors from October and November 2008. The total was more than $3 million.

"We also found items like $2,377 dollars spent at Bass Pro in Maumee, $1,842 at Appliance Center in Maumee, even a Gino's Pizza bill for $383."

Kudos to them for getting and publishing the information, but February is too late for any of us to do anything about it, especially when the attitude from the mayor's office is that all the expenditures were less than $10,000 so none of them had to be approved by City Council before being paid.

If we had transparency in local government and required that the city's check register be published, we'd know about these things when the check was written.

Many cities and states have found a way to put their detailed expenditures on line in a searchable database. Citizens, media and organizations can then view all the items purchased and from whom.

Why hasn't Toledo done this?? If these expenditures had to be publicized and we could all look at them in a timely manner, would there be pressure on the elected officials to be more judicious in their spending? Would they fear the light shining on their activities? Would we know about spending soon enough to prevent multiple under-$10,000 contracts for a single project - like when the mayor broke up remodelling work at the Erie Street Market so he didn't have to submit it to council?

And even if it didn't do these things, would it still be a good idea so we can keep track of how our tax dollars were being used? I think so.

We need to demand that our city put it's check register on line. This deserves the support of candidates and our political parties. City Council members should get behind this drive, especially because it seems they're also in the dark when it comes to city finances. They supported a requirement that the mayor's budget submission in November be balanced, so this would be the next logical step.

Call your council members and tell them we need transparency and we have a right to know how the city spends our money.

Contact information
City Council phone number: 419-245-1050
emails:
phillip.copeland@toledo.oh.gov
joe.mcnamara@toledo.oh.gov
george.sarantou@toledo.oh.gov
betty.shultz@toledo.oh.gov
mark.sobczak@toledo.oh.gov
frank.szollosi@toledo.oh.gov
wilma.brown@toledo.oh.gov
dmichael.collins@toledo.oh.gov
mike.craig@toledo.oh.gov
michael.ashford@toledo.oh.gov
tom.waniewski@toledo.oh.gov
lindsay.webb@toledo.oh.gov

A common sense goal for 2009

"The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false."
~ Paul Johnson

As we face a new year and new possibilities, there are some changes I think can be made in our community to help all of us.

My column in this week's Toledo Free Press, 'Some good ideas for 2009,' focuses on three areas that we should support: transparency in government, better accessibility and an individual commitment to involvement.

These three issues are not partisan - they're not conservative or liberal or progressive; they're not Republican, Democrat or Independent. They are common sense and they are issues upon which we should all agree.

We should all insist that our government, which is supposed to work in our best interests, shares with us the information WE want to see - information which tells us how decisions are being made and how money is being spent. With today's technology, there is no excuse for government to not make available such data in easy-to-use formats so all citizens can have access.

Governments should also meet at such times that are conducive to public participation. There are plenty of ways to address meeting times and access and, again, there is no excuse for government to not make such changes.

And then there is the issue of more individual involvement in influencing the decisions and public policies that come from our governments. If our governments become more transparent and provide better access, we must follow through by actually participating. Of course, better and more accessible information will make it easier for us to do so, giving us information to use as part of the feedback we provide to our elected officials. That feedback, in turn, should spur more accessible government which will promote more involvement - a continuous cycle, but one that is toward improvement, rather than the downward spiral we've found ourselves in for so long in this area.

I hope you will join with me in asking (perhaps demanding?) that our governmental agencies and elected officials provide more transparency ... and that you will also take a more active role to influence their decisions in 2009.

Transparency in Ohio's governments

A press release from The Buckeye Institute:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 11, 2008

OHIO THINK TANK TO PUT PUBLIC RECORDS ONLINE

Buckeye Institute Announces Government Transparency Center


COLUMBUS – The Buckeye Institute today announced its Center for Transparent and Accountable Government. The center, led by former Statehouse reporter Mike Maurer, will collect and post online state and local government budgets, employee contracts, public records policies and other information.

“Transparency and open government crosses ideologies and is equally supported, and equally opposed, by both major political parties,” said Maurer. “The Coburn-Obama bill, of which both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain were initial sponsors, requires federal government contracts to be posted at USAspending.gov. Ohioans deserve the same type of transparency from their state and local governments.”

The center’s first two initiatives include a candidate transparency pledge and an open government “wiki” Web page.

A Pledge for Transparency and Accountability in Government will be distributed to all candidates for elective office, at all levels of government, from townships and school districts to the General Assembly. It asks that candidates acknowledge the importance of Internet availability, the legal basis of transparency in the state and federal constitutions, and the use of practical, current technology, such as searchable databases and relevant cross links.

The pledge is attached to a White Paper on Transparency published as a Buckeye Institute Policy Brief, describing state and private efforts to make budgets, checkbooks, contracts and awards, and a wide array of government data easily accessible. The report is available online at www.buckeyeinstitute.org.

OhioSunshine.org, a publicly editable “wiki” Web site, is available to all citizens and can be edited by local activists across the state. The site is dedicated to open government, and it will allow citizens to monitor how well state and local governments provide information to the public.

“We like to say that there are 11 million pairs of eyes to ensure good government in Ohio,” said Maurer. “While many of our government officials deserve credit for working to provide government data the way it must be provided today, over the Internet, the fact is that Ohio is behind its peers in government transparency.”

Examples of state governments that are doing a better job than Ohio include the state of Alaska, which has its entire checkbook online, and the state of West Virginia, which has its entire public employee payroll online.

Buckeye Institute President David Hansen said that open, easily available information is essential to good government.

“The legitimacy of Ohio government rests on the consent of the governed, but that consent doesn’t mean much when so much of government occurs hidden, or deeply buried,” Hansen said. “Twenty-First Century information technology should be applied to draw back the curtain that stands between government and the people.”

The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions is a nonpartisan research and educational institute devoted to individual liberty, economic freedom, personal responsibility and limited government in Ohio.

*****
Good news: The information will be available on line.
Bad news: It takes a think tank to do it because our local and state governments don't.