Hello advocates, a few updates for you. Happy spring!
DOJ Office of Legal Counsel
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairmen Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings sent a letter to the DOJ seeking documentation to better understand the Office ofLegal Consel’s opinion-making process. The letter can be found here.
FOIA Improvement Act of 2016
The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (S. 337) passed the Senate on Tuesday, March 15. A letter signed by AALL and other organizations in support of the bill can be found here.
–submitted by Wendy Lamar, wdlamar @ gmail.com
James Madison Award
On March 11, 2016, the American Library Association awarded Seamus Kraft, the co-founder and executive director of the OpenGov Foundation, the James Madison Award for his work advancing the public’s access to government.
The OpenGov Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting citizen participation in the legislative process through free open-source software. Their projects include the Madison Project (https://mymadison.io/), a platform enabling collaboration between lawmakers and citizens on pending legislation; and the America Decoded (http://americadecoded.org) and State Decoded (http://www.statedecoded.com/) platforms for free access to state statutes and ordinances.