Budget Matters Blog

The White House/ flickr

By John Wonderlich

Today, the White House is issuing a new Executive Order on Open Data -- one that is significantly different from the open data policies that have come before it -- reflecting Sunlight's persistent call for stronger public listings of agency data, and demonstrating a new path forward for governments committing to open data.

This Executive Order and the new policies that accompany it cover a lot of ground, building public reporting systems, adding new goals, creating new avenues for public participation, and laying out new principles for openness, much of which can be found ...

Last week we explained that Congress was rushing to prevent airport delays, even as education programs and services for vulnerable Americans - such as shelters for victims of domestic violence - were seeing funding cuts. The following guest blog is an explanation of how lawmakers ultimately passed the "Reducing Flight Delays Act" - by lying about a typo and throwing transparency out the window.

By Jim Harper

Last weekend, we reported how Congress had failed to pass identical versions of the same bill in the House and Senate, meaning it couldn’t be signed into law. Now they’ve fixed the problem … by ...

By Blake Pappas

The cost of education for a child with disabilities can be double the amount needed for a child without disabilities.  Many students with special needs require multiple services such as classroom aides, counseling, specialized equipment, or access to health professionals during the day. Special education programs are often underfunded, leading to poor outcomes for students and repercussions for schools and communities. Unfortunately, many school districts today are seeing budget cuts, and these cuts exacerbate the challenges faced by special education programs and the students they serve. One way that many school districts attempt to cut costs in ...

Tarsi Dunlop is the former Director of Operations for the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and the Communications Director for the Roosevelt Pipeline, DC Chapter. 

Millennials have just as much of a stake in the answers to long-term budget questions as we do in the short-term decisions concerning the economic recovery. As the newest civic generation, we value community, volunteering and public service.

Tarsi Dunlop at the Capitol

We consider ourselves the 9/11-generation; our worldviews and identity were shaped, in part, by a day of horror, patriotism and unity. Today, we are working to develop a coherent narrative around our ...

Lila Carpenter is from Belfast, Maine. She's starting her first year at New York University, where she'll be studying political science.

I used to be oblivious to the inner workings of my pay stub, and how the taxes I pay are used by the federal government. As a recent high school graduate, working two jobs and preparing for college, reading A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget has been a real eye-opener. As I prepare to vote for the first time this fall, and enter into college as a political science major, I am more aware of ...

Bob Dylan once said, "Money don't talk, it swears!" While it's easy to curse the budgetary decisions made by lawmakers, we often don’t realize how incredibly complicated the process is.

I've been reading A People's Guide to the Federal Budget, and though we as Americans may disagree with lawmakers about decisions made in the federal budget process, A People's Guide explains how lawmakers and the president work together through a process of checks and balances. And the book points out lots of opportunity for regular people to get in touch with lawmakers to make ...

If we want to have a say in how our tax dollars are spent, we need to have a say in who represents us.

Fortunately, we do have a say in who represents us – in theory, at least. In practice, a majority of Americans of voting age don’t have any role in determining their representation. According to the Census Bureau, just 37 percent of eligible voters actually voted in the 2010 midterm elections. Frankly, that stinks.

At TurboVote, we’re trying to change that. TurboVote is an online voting tool that gives the voting process the same accessibility that ...

As I travel with candidates to meet voters across the state of Maine, I see people who disconnect from politics because they are overwhelmed and confused by the political landscape. Because of that confusion, I find that most people retreat from discussions about budget priorities – on the state and federal levels – and pass up opportunities to advocate for themselves and their families. Even as so many people need and benefit from government services, most are confused by budget terms from appropriations and outlays to mandatory versus discretionary spending.

As I read A People's Guide to the Federal Budget, I ...

This is the second part of a guest post from Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Transparency Coalition and former Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Read the first part here.

President Obama appears to agree that the Recovery.gov model is the future of federal spending transparency. In June 2011, he established a new panel of administration officials, known as the Government Accountability and Transparency Board, to figure out how to expand the Recovery.gov approach to all spending. He appointed Earl Devaney to lead the effort. Last December the Government Accountability and Transparency ...

This is the first part of a guest post from Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Transparency Coalition and former Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Read part two here.

Three and a half years ago, Congress passed the federal stimulus law, which required 28 federal agencies to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize the economy. To oversee the program, Congress established the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Recovery Board). President Obama appointed Earl Devaney, the inspector general of the Department of the Interior, to lead the Recovery Board.

The stimulus law required ...