Attorney General Andrew Cuomo debuted a revamp of the Sunlight.com site, what he's calling "Sunlight 2.0."
I think the "2.0" description may be a bit of a stretch. It's more like "1.3" or something. That said, the site has been updated with all this year's member item data, interactive maps for all sorts of things and lots of new data on contracting, lobbying and whatnot.
It certainly could be a bit more user friendly on the front end and there is still some work to be done as far as making the available data useful to those looking for it. I also think that the Sunlight Foundation's Andrew Rasiej makes a very good point in his comments to Jimmy Vielkind :
It's a direct descendant of the Sunlight Foundation work in Washington, and therefore it would be terrific if the attorney general went further and made the raw data feeding the web site open and accessible to developers.
Regardless, this new version of Project Sunlight is miles beyond anything we had before and both the Attorney General and the Legislature should be commended for moving the ball forward on making the data that belongs to the people of New York actually available to them.
Pity poor Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi. In fact, Pity all the Hevesis. They are certainly having a rough stretch. It would be so much easier for them if there wasn't all that damn goo-goo transparency going around these days.
The Assembly Democrats held a closed-door conference meeting yesterday to review Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget and decide what they will include in their own spending proposal for 2008-09.
When talk turned to the $1 million for AG Andrew Cuomo's Project Sunlight - the on-line clearing house of public information on all things state government, including lawmakers, lobbyists, campaign finance, member items and legislation - one member stood and vehemently opposed it:
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi.
According to several of his Assembly colleagues, Hevesi argued that Cuomo will use Project Sunlight to "attack members" and demonstrate that he is living up to his pledge to be the Sheriff of State Street.
Hevesi, who declined to comment, is reportedly furious with Cuomo for going after Hevesi's father, the disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who lost his post due to Chauffeurgate.
Cuomo has invoked the Martin Act to investigate an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving the $150 billion state pension fund on Hevesi's watch.
The SEC is also involved in the probe, which has focused on Alan Hevesi, his longtime political consultant Hank Morris, who has made millions of dollars worth of placement fees off pension fund deals, a number of former OSC staffers and Andrew Hevesi's older brother, Dan.
Although it's unlikely Cuomo's $1 million will be left out of the Assembly budget, Hevesi's angry outcry was received with a smattering of applause from his colleagues, sources say.
Boo freakin hoo, Andy. Guess what? You and your fellow legislators work for us, got it? Project Sunlight makes available to the public data that they have been denied for far too long, pal. In fact, much of the data provided by Project Sunlight would be illegal to conceal in many states, states like Florida for instance.
Forgive us if maybe we aren't inclined to take you and your ilk at your word any longer. The data provided to New Yorkers by Project Sunlight belongs to the public, sport. It's amazing to me that the stinking Albany status quo was able to keep it from us for so long, but those days are over. Hallelujah, I say.
So spare me you outrage, Andy. That goes for the other Assemblymen who applauded your little tirade. We will our state government back, Andy. We will reform the way we do things in Albany. A huge portion of that task, a task that will certainly not be easy, is introducing even more transparency to the process.
Project Sunlight is just the beginning, Andy. If you can't stand the heat now, I'd suggest you get the hell out of the kitchen right now, pal.
So seldom is there good news out of New York's state capital that when something like the new Project Sunlight Web site emerges, the instinct is to wonder how soon before the forces of darkness will try to kill it. Until they do, the new site from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office gives ordinary New Yorkers the ability to see information about their state that should have been easily accessible in the first place.
Over the years, New York's lawmakers have found increasingly artful ways to make it hard for anybody outside the capital to know what they're doing. Campaign records were kept in different counties. One governor listed donors by their first names. More recently, data about which legislator doled out which goodie to the home district - from a ball field to a cheese museum - was given out strictly on a need-to-know basis. And when journalists finally took legislative leaders to court to get these lists of "member items" the information was released in ways that blocked most computers from using it. The rule was that any "public information" had to be extremely difficult for the public to get - in most cases, one had to file a Freedom of Information request and start knitting a very large sweater.
If that changes with this new Sunlight Web site, it is because Mr. Cuomo had the foresight to pick Blair Horner, one of Albany's best activists, to take on the project. Mr. Horner and his team have attempted to knit campaign finance data to lobbying data to legislative data. They have included information about contracts and corporations and charities. In theory, that means a member of the public could look up a bill or a contract, and see which lawmaker pushed it, which lobbying firm helped and how much campaign money was involved.
At this point, the site is just a start. The public is invited to ask for more data, and already we can see that it should include information from authorities, those quasi-public agencies that work quasi-underground. The ethics filings of state legislators should be on the site, as should the comptroller's payouts for management fees for the state pension.
It definitely has missing pieces and is in need of some not insignificant tweaking, but just the fact that the site actually exists and that all this data is one place is a huge step forward.
First, I'm assuming that the announcement actually happened. I can't tell you that for sure though, as my two month old MacBook Pro with obsessively updated software, couldn't see or hear a thing from Albany. I know the state spent some bucks on this video streaming stuff from "xfactorcom.com", but why not just Ustream? It's simple, free and actually, ya know, works.
Secondly, here we have this big announcement about this awesome new initiative to allow citizens access to information about their own state government, information withheld from them for far too long either overtly or by making that information absurdly hard to find and use. Hallelujah! Oh, Happy Day! But, guess what? You still can't access that information! Really.
Cuomo's presser starts in just a few minutes and you should be able to watch the live stream of the announcement here. There's even a field to enter a question. Nice.
NYBri got a sneak peak yesterday and says it's awesome. Let's hope he's right.
You remember Project Sunlight, don't you? It's Andrew Cuomo's project to make available all manner of public information available to citizens, ya know, like normal states. Maybe you remember that Joe Bruno stripped funding for the project during the budget fight and then referred to himself as "the greatest reformer in this state - probably since Teddy Roosevelt" before he suddenly restored the funds. Maybe you remember that Cuomo hired former NYPIRG lobbyist Blair Horner to run the thing. Maybe you don't remember any of this. It seems like it all happened years ago.
Well, according to Liz, (and a handy press release from the AG's office), Project Sunlight may finally be close to seeing the light of day.
AG Andrew Cuomo is finally poised to unveil Project Sunlight - a comprehensive, searchable Internet database of information on state government, from campaign finance and lobbying data to lucrative state contracts and elected officials' voting records.
Cuomo made Project Sunlight a campaign pledge and said it would go a long way toward improving public integrity - a key element in his quest to be the Sheriff of State Street. Not long after he took office, he tapped former NYPIRG lobbyist Blair Horner to head up the effort.
The announcement of what is being touted by the AG's office as a "powerful new Website" that will give the public "unprecedented access to the workings of state government and the information it keeps" will be made at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at the State Museum in Albany.
I, being the dork that I am, will poke around with it all day. I personally have very high hopes for this and hope that I won't be disappointed.
In the meantime, here's a video preview:
In a nice Web 2.0 twist, you'll be able to watch a live stream of tomorrow's announcement here.
CNN.com reports this morning that Google is partnering with states to make government records more easily searchable online. Arizona, California, Utah, and Virginia have already accepted Google's help.
This is great news. Google's plan is limited to improving access to already-existing government databases, but this is a laudable step forward in making government more transparent. These partnerships will allow web users to harness the power of Google's search engine to find information about the activity of lawmakers.
We would love to see the New York State Legislature form a similar partnership to overhaul their antiquated bill search. This option is also something for Attorney General Cuomo's staff to keep in mind when they are implementing Project Sunlight-enhanced search capabilities would make the proposed campaign finance and lobbying database even more valuable to the public. In case any of our readers work in New York government, you can find out more about what Google can offer public sector entities here
The nearly $700,000 stripped from Eliot Spitzer's budget for Andrew Cuomo's Project Sunlight has been restored by Mr Public Integrity himself, State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. Newsday has more:
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said Thursday that he now supports Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's plan to provide greater public scrutiny of government's inner workings.
The Republican-led Senate had omitted $700,000 in funding for the "Project Sunlight" program in its state budget proposal, but Bruno said he will restore the money after discussing the issue with Cuomo.
"We wanted to understand more clearly what that related to, how it would function and how it would work," Bruno said. "And if it takes more funds, it ought to be requested."
...
Separately, Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Thursday agreed to Cuomo's proposal to add "disclosure and accountability certifications" to contracts for future pork barrel grants given by individual lawmakers to community groups, local governments, hospitals and others. The recipients of the "member items," totaling $200 million annually, will have to disclose relationships they have with lawmakers, their legal standing and the public purpose of the funding.
