Last week, Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization that advocates for greater government transparency, launched SunshineStandard.org, a new website aimed at providing lawmakers and activists with the information and tools necessary to establish a “basic level of government transparency.”
Among the many features offered on the site are daily news stories, a Sunshine pledge, model legislation, a 10-point transparency checklist, and information about public information laws in each state.
Interested parties will also find two sample letters-the first being a Letter to the Editor, the other a Letter to your Legislator-to help spread the word far and wide that open government is good government.
While Texans may find some of the information on the site to be “old hat,” at least when applied to state government, just about everything here can be used to help improve transparency at the local level, where there are some real deficiencies in the accessibility and quality of public information currently provided.
– James Quintero