In a time of increasing austerity in the government, we are also experiencing an increasing demand for many government services.

While most agency websites have made it increasingly possible for the public to participate on their websites since President Obama’s Open Government Initiative was launched, an industry report released August 22 asserts that much more research needs to be done for these agencies to make sure that they are providing opportunities for quality public participation and to better be able to measure the impact this participation has on their agency.

Read the full industry report published on GovernmentExecutive.com.

The Council of the District of Columbia has passed the Campaign Finance Reporting Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 which requires increased campaign finance reporting in the year preceding an election, commensurate with the change of the September primary election and the February presidential preference election to the 1st Tuesday in April in an election year.

A political committee supporting a candidate or candidates participating in the April 3, 2012 primary election must file reports of receipts and expenditures in the 7 months preceding the date on which the election is held.

Political committees supporting a candidate or candidates participating in the April 3, 2012 primary election must now file reports of receipts and expenditures on October 10, 2011; December 10, 2011; January 31, 2012; March 10, 2012; and March 26, 2012.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has called the Legislature to begin a special session on Tuesday, September 6, 2011.

The special session was called to address a number of the governor’s job creation proposals.

Photo of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon by Bernard Pollack on Wikipedia.

Josh Belinfante, Vice Chairman of the State Ethics Commission, has announced he is resigning his position in order to consider a run for state senate. While he has yet to commit to running for the position, Belinfante has indicated an interest in the seat for senate district 6 following the release of the proposed maps for redistricting.

Belinfante’s resignation comes on the heels of the recent announcement by Chairman Patrick Millsaps that he will be stepping down from his position due to what he has determined to be his illegal appointment by Governor Nathan Deal.

The State Ethics Commission is also currently engaged in the process of finding a person to fill the role of Executive Secretary for the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission following the departure of Stacey Kalberman.

Kalberman’s departure and the termination of the Deputy Executive Secretary position, once held by Sherilyn Streicker, were the result of cost-cutting maneuvers implemented by members of the Commission this past June.

The West Virginia Legislature adjourned the second special session on redistricting on August 21, 2011.

Here is the announcement on the West Virginia Legislature’s blog.

Photo of the West Virginia State Capitol by Garkeith on Wikipedia.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of  State and Federal Communications, will be attending the Public Affairs Council Consultant Member Meeting in Washington, D.C. on August 23, 2011.

Federal:

Special Interests Gave $3 Million to Members of New Budget Super Committee

The 2012 Election Brings a New Kind of Fundraiser: The super bundler

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

AP Interview: Juror says Alabama gambling trial jury favored acquittals on undecided charges

California

Porter Steps Down as Head of Political Watchdog Agency

Florida

Tallahassee Lobbyists Earning More This Year

Kentucky

Louisville Metro Council Ethics Panel Enforces Gift Rules

Maine

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Maine PAC Reporting Requirement

Nebraska

Attorney General: State campaign finance law likely unconstitutional

New York

Donor Limit Tops $100,000 at Capitol

New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Signs Government Ethics Law for N.Y. State Officials, Workers

Rhode Island

Anti-Gay Marriage Group Loses Appeal of R.I. Court Ruling

Virginia

Hamilton Sentenced in Bribery, Extortion Case

Washington

Public Disclosure Commission Seeks New Director

Wisconsin

GOP’s Senate Edge Stays at One after Recalls

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

Lorne Malkiewich, the director of the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau, has announced he is retiring before the next regular legislative session in 2013.

Malkiewich told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “I am applying for some jobs and if I get them, then obviously, it would be sooner,” he said. “But otherwise, it will probably be sometime next fall (of 2012). I just wanted to give leadership some notice so they will be able to work on recruiting a new director and things like that.” One of the duties of the Legislative Counsel Bureau is handling lobbyist registration, reporting, and information services.

Malkiewich has been with the Legislative Counsel Bureau since 1981.

Photo of the Nevada State Capitol by Dave Parker on Wikipedia.

We now provide information on lobbying, political contributions, and procurement lobbying for:

Chandler, Arizona

Fort Collins, Colorado

New Haven, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Chesapeake, Virginia

While the federal government has launched over 70 mobile apps of its own, many new developments in government apps have been made by the states.

Arkansas, for example, created an app that allows the families and friends of  incarcerated individuals to make secure payments into the inmates’ accounts, as well as creating an app that allows hunters to register deer and turkeys they have killed.

Many other states such as Indiana, Minnesota, and New York have released a variety of useful apps for services ranging from school bus inspections to lake safety. 

Read “Mobile Apps are Reshaping Government Services and Operations” by Joseph Marks on NextGov.com which addresses these state government apps in more depth.

Voters in Boulder, Colorado will have the opportunity to vote whether they support corporate personhood on the November 1, 2011 ballot.

By a 6 – 3 decision, the Boulder City Council approved placing a resolution on the ballot calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution declaring only human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights and money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech.

The ballot measure is in response to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision, where the ability of the government to limit corporate and labor union independent expenditures was ruled unconstitutional.

“I think it’s a real threat to our government,” said councilman Ken Williams, “and whatever we can do to change that, I think we should.”

If approved by voters, Boulder would join a growing list of localities that have passed similar resolutions.

Photo of the Flatirons by Aza Toth on Wikipedia.

Most innovative ideas that have changed the world as we know it had just as many doubters as supporters. With hindsight it is easy to say the opposition of such innovations such as the telephone and computer must have been short-sighted and unimaginative. While this could be true, there may have been good reasons for their doubt, but without knowing what their reasons were, it is very entertaining to look at the doubtlessly inaccurate predictions people have made in the past.

Today’s Highlighted Site Of The Week is a Timeline of Failed Predictions that is posted on FastCompany.com. The author compiled a chronological list of over 80 predictions that contradict what actually happened beginning in the 1700s all the way up to the 21st century.

These predictions include failed predictions for nearly every topic including politics, technology, “fads” such as the car and radio, and music.

Some of my favorites were:

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” – Western Union, 1878.”

“Four or five frigates will do the business without any military force.” – British Prime Minister Lord North, on dealing with the rebellious American colonies, 1774.”

“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” -Associates of Edwin L. Drake on his suggestion to drill for oil in 1859.”

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977.”

“The truth is no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works” – Clifford Stoll, 1995.”

It’s amazing to think of what would have happened if some of these predictions would have been right.

Have a great weekend!

Implementation of Measure H, a campaign finance reform approved by voters earlier this year, has been delayed by the Los Angeles City Council.

Measure H bans campaign contributions from contractors to elected officials responsible for reviewing proposals for city work valued at $100,000 or more.

Photo of the Los Angeles by BRION Vibber on Wikipedia and the Seal of Los Angeles by Mysid on Wikipedia.

When President Obama launched his Campaign to Cut Waste back in June, the White House also enacted a freeze on new federal websites meaning no one can get a new one without a written waiver from the federal CIO.

In an article posted on ExecutiveGov when the freeze first began, there were nearly 2,000 top-level, federal .gov domains, with smaller sub-sites and microsites adding up to an estimated 24,000 websites “of varying purpose, design, navigation, usability and accessibility.”

A more recent article, “No New Fed Websites for Rest of This Year“, confirms that a memo on behalf of the new federal CIO, Steve VanRoekel, said that the freeze on new federal websites will continue through the remainder of this calendar year.

Read the full memo here.