Route Fifty: Tracking State Spending in Real Time with Budget Transparency Websites. “State governments are raising the bar on what it means to be transparent about their spending, with two states launching new budget websites this month that allow citizens to examine expenditures in near-real time.”
state government
KOCO: Gov. Stitt announces launch of interactive website allowing access to state ledger
KOCO: Gov. Stitt announces launch of interactive website allowing access to state ledger. “Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday announced the launch of Oklahoma Checkbook, a website aimed to help people understand how their taxpayer dollars are being spent. Oklahoma Checkbook provides near real-time data on the state’s expenses, ensuring that people can quickly and easily review the state’s ledger, according to a news release. Stitt also said the website will provide a ‘greater means of accountability and transparency,’ a platform on which he ran on during his gubernatorial bid.”
KPVI: Web portal set up in celebration of ratification of 19th Amendment, giving women right to vote
KPVI: Web portal set up in celebration of ratification of 19th Amendment, giving women right to vote . “Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Committee to Celebrate the Centennial of Wisconsin’s Ratification of the 19th Amendment and its chair, First Lady Kathy Evers, have announced the launch of a new website to share resources about events and programming relating to the 19th amendment taking place across Wisconsin.”
Get All of Your Bots in a Row: 2018 California Bot Disclosure Law Comes Online Soon (National Law Review)
National Law Review: Get All of Your Bots in a Row: 2018 California Bot Disclosure Law Comes Online Soon. “During the 2016 election, certain Russian operatives used fake social media profiles to influence voters and also created bot accounts to add likes to and share posts across the internet. And more recently, in January 2019, the New York Attorney General and Office of the Florida Attorney General announced settlements with certain entities that sold fake social media engagement, such as followers, likes and views. Moreover, many of the social media platforms have had recent purges of millions of fake accounts. Thus, it’s clear that bots and automated activity on social media platforms has been on everyone’s radar…including state legislators’ too.”
Education Week: Florida Plan for a Huge Database to Stop School Shootings Hits Delays, Legal Questions
Education Week: Florida Plan for a Huge Database to Stop School Shootings Hits Delays, Legal Questions. “It was supposed to be operational six months ago, part of Florida’s wide-ranging effort to prevent the next school shooting: a sprawling new database that would merge people’s social media posts with millions of records on individuals who have been bullied, placed in foster care, committed a crime, or even been mentioned in unverified tips made to law enforcement. The plan, however, has sputtered, an Education Week investigation found.”
TechSpot: Maine passes bill prohibiting ISPs from selling customer data without consent
TechSpot: Maine passes bill prohibiting ISPs from selling customer data without consent. “The state’s Senate voted unanimously to pass the bill, after the bill found similar favor in the state House. The bill, LD 946, requires ISPs to obtain consent before collecting, disclosing, selling or permitting access to customer information. LD 946 outlines exceptions where ISPs can use customer information without consent, such as honoring a court order or in case of emergency services.”
‘We’re opening the doors’: You can now search the on-time rates for each MTA bus route online (Baltimore Sun)
Baltimore Sun: ‘We’re opening the doors’: You can now search the on-time rates for each MTA bus route online. “The Maryland Transit Administration unveiled a searchable online database Thursday that offers bus passengers and the rest of the public the ability to view and track on-time rates of each of the agency’s bus routes, a transparency step long sought by advocates critical of the agency’s reporting.”
