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Let the sunshine in

Here's a story for you:  there's legislation in the Senate requiring Senators to file their campaign finance disclosure forms online.  The House already does this, so it's not groundbreaking territory - it's a simple reform that would be easy enough to implement and is long overdue.  In fact, there's overwhelming support for the legislation among Senators.  So why hasn't this legislation passed yet?

Some anonymous Senator has placed a secret hold on it.  Seriously.  And woe to the legislator in question when his or her identity is eventually discovered...and the activists will discover it:

The objection -- a long-standing Senate custom that allows a single unnamed member to stop any bill in its tracks -- unleashed a vigorous response from bloggers, led by the Sunlight Foundation. The group called on its members to dial their senators and ask if they put the hold on the bill.

Over the past week, the Sunlight Foundation continued to update its list, crossing off names as its members obtained denials. Yesterday morning, they were down to two -- Republican Sens. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and Judd Gregg (N.H.).

By the end of the day yesterday, however, both Kyl and Gregg had issued denials.  So does that mean someone lied?  Stay tuned to the Sunlight Foundation for the latest updates about this.

General News :: Entry Link :: 2 Comments
Tags: secret hold, Sunlight Foundation, electronic disclosure, Government Accountability, open government, Sen. Kyl, Sen. Gregg (all tags)


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