Electronic Government

Electronic Government:

News

EPA Announces E-rulemaking Online Forum, Public Meetings 07/26/2004
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a countrywide series of public forums for August on an eRulemaking Initiative. The four forums will be held in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In addition to EPA's public meetings, Harvard University is partnering with the eRulemaking Initiative to host an online dialogue during August. Details about the online dialogue will be released soon. Read More

Bill to Extend Patriot Act Is Quietly Introduced 06/01/2004
Secrecy News reported the next salvo in the debate about the Patriot Act: On May 21, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) [and others] introduced a bill to make the Patriot Act permanent. S. 2476 would repeal sunset provisions of the most controversial sections of the Patriot Act, which are set to expire in 2005. Read More

eRulemaking Workshops 05/17/2004
The School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University will host a series of half-day workshops on the federal eRulemaking Initiative June 2 to 4. The purpose of the workshops is to solicit input from various end-user communities with a stake in eRulemaking. Read More

Government Web Secrecy Doesn't Provide Security 04/05/2004
A recent report by the RAND Corporation reveals that information scrubbed from government websites after the Sept. 11 attacks were unnecessary and unproductive in protecting against terrorism. Many government agencies have removed extensive amounts of information from their websites on the remote chance it could be misused by terrorists. The RAND report establishes that the agencies' approach of viewing information only as a threat and not considering the benefits is erroneous. Read More

Office of Special Counsel Scrubs Website 02/23/2004
The new head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Scott J. Bloch, recently scrubbed the agency’s webpage removing references to protection from sexual orientation discrimination. The OSC is an independent agency with a primary mission to safeguard federal employees by protecting their workplace rights for activities such as whistleblowing. Read More

Representatives Increase Efforts to put Congressional Research Reports Online 12/02/2003
Members of the House of Representatives interested in public access are pushing for a bill to put all Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports online. This new push comes after the September expiration of a pilot program that provided hundreds of CRS reports to the public on the Internet. Read More

EPA Releases Final ECHO Database 10/20/2003
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed the pilot phase of its Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website. EPA finalized the site after reviewing extensive feedback received on the pilot version from the general public, public interest groups, government users, trade associations and regulated entities. Read More

Public Comments Sought for Online Federal Contract Pilot 07/28/2003
In a June Federal Register notice, the General Service Administration (GSA) announced a planned pilot project to make Federal contracts publicly available online. The project would require all federal departments and agencies to post contracts on the Internet. This proposal signals a major attempt to increase the level of transparency and accountability in the contract process. Public comments are sought by GSA in order to set priorities for the project. Read More

Ohio Attack on E-Gov: Update 06/02/2003
Public reaction and government employees' concern appear to have halted a proposed prohibition on Ohio government actions that could be perceived as competitive with the private sector. Read More

Administration Issues Report on Small Business Paperwork 05/19/2003
An administration task force, led by the Office of Management and Budget, published a draft report on May 9 that makes recommendations to reduce reporting burdens on small business. Comments on the report -- which is mandated by the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act (SBPRA), enacted a year ago -- are due by June 4. Read More

ALEC-backed Attacks on E-Gov't Move in States 05/05/2003
Legislation backed by the American Legislative Exchange Council that would stifle public access to taxpayer-funded information and services in the name of protecting commercial profits is rapidly moving through the state legislature in Ohio and is under consideration in other states. Read More

Bush Signs E-Government Bill 12/23/2002
President Bush signed legislation on December 17 that pushes the federal government to provide greater Internet access to information and services, authorizing $345 million over the next four years for an e-government fund. Read More

GAO Study on Electronic Government 12/23/2002

On November 22, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) published a report entitled “Electronic Government: Selection and Implementation of the Office of Management and Budget's 24 Initiatives.” Expanding electronic government (e-government), using technology, particularly the Internet, to enhance the public’s access to government information and services, is a key element of the President’s Management Agenda to reform the federal government. The report reviews the completeness of information used by the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) task force to choose and oversee these initiatives.
Read More

House, Senate Pass E-Government Act 11/25/2002
On November 15, the House and Senate unanimously passed a modified version of the E-Government Act, which President Bush is expected to sign. Read More

OMB to Launch Centralized Online Rulemaking Portal 11/25/2002
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is planning to launch a web site on December 18 that will allow users to view and submit comments on any federal regulation. Read More

Third Annual US State and E-Government Study Released 09/19/2002
Darrell West and his team of researchers at the Brown University Center recently published the third annual U.S. federal and state e-government survey for Public Policy. The survey looked at 1206 state government websites, in addition to 45 federal legislative executive branch websites, and 13 federal court websites. The full report is available online:

www.insidepolitics.org/Egovt02us.html (HTML)
www.insidepolitics.org/egovt02us.PDF (PDF)

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FirstGov Folded Into New GSA Office 08/05/2002
On July 23, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the creation of a new Office of Citizen Services and Communications that will incorporate the Office of FirstGov, which oversees the federal government’s web portal, the Information Technology Office and the Intergovernmental Solutions Office. GSA Administrator Stephen Perry promised that the new office will serve as a "single front door to the services and information" the public requires in the medium it prefers. Read More

Section 508 One Year Later 08/05/2002
On the first anniversary of the implementation of a key federal law designed to improve technology access for all persons with, and within, federal agencies, questions and concerns about the level of compliance continue to loom. Read More

"A People Armed?" Agency E-FOIA Implementation 07/15/2002
On October 2, 1996, President Clinton signed the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (E-FOIA) Amendments into law. These new provisions of the thirty-year-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are the first to guarantee public access to federal government information electronically. The intent was that by agencies making records, record indexes, and a FOIA guide available online to fulfill these amendments members of the public could easily find and obtain access to records regarding federal government projects and policies. Can they? Read More

Summary of E-Government Act (S. 803) 07/08/2002
By unanimous consent, on June 27, the Senate passed the E-Government Act (S. 803), which seeks to promote greater use of Internet-based information technology across the federal government. The administration opposed the bill as originally introduced by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), but following negotiations over the last year, Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) became a cosponsor and a compromise agreement was eventually struck, clearing the way for passage. Read More

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