FOSS, govtech, and open data.
Rep. Tom Perriello is introducing a bill to make a brilliant modification to campaign finance law. It’s a bit breathtaking in its simplicity and utility. With the recent Supreme Court ruling (which is simultaneously legally correct and practically stupid), corporations can make unlimited contributions to candidates for political office. This will be, as anybody can …
Continue reading “Perriello proposes prohibition on foreign corporate donations.”
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From the governor’s budget cut plan (2MB PDF) that was announced today, I see this bit in the listings of cost savings through budget cuts and revenue increases: Implements an administrative fee of $25 per report for campaign finance disclosure reports filed in paper form. Electronic filing software is made available free of charge to …
Continue reading “The SBE will charge $25/filing for paper campaign finance reports.”
The New York Times has created an API for campaign finance data. This is a little slice of geek heaven. I’m enormously impressed that the NYT would put the enormous time and effort into doing something this innovative. When we have similar APIs for election results and legislation, the resulting mashups are going to leave …
The latest fundraising reports are in for state and federal campaigns. (State campaigns file with the State Board of Elections, federal campaigns file with the Federal Election Commission. The two types of campaigns are held to entirely different laws, file different forms, and generally bear little resemblance to each other. TMYK ★.) Tim Craig runs …
The Virginia Public Access Project has a totally new website, rebuilt from the ground up. The best open government resource in Virginia just got a lot better. Their totally new data structure is going to let them do all sorts of new things, while this new design makes the site way friendlier to Joe Citizen.