Clock Ticking On Open Gov't Proposals
Time is almost up for the first part of the White House's consultation to build a framework for President Obama's open government initiative. A public online brainstorming session, which began last week and is hosted by the National Academy of Public Administration, ends Thursday. Team Obama wants citizens to submit ideas, discuss and refine others' ideas, and vote the best ones to the top. The themes deemed most important will provide the basis for two more stages of interaction: a discussion phase, when officials will deepen the conversation about compelling topics raised during the brainstorming, and a drafting phase, when the public will again be asked to collaborate on draft recommendations through the use of a wiki. Here's a rundown of several of the most popular ideas proposed during the brainstorming session:
• Support a mandatory 72-hour public review period on all major spending bills.
• Require all government meetings subject to federal open meeting laws to be webcast.
• Provide an online, visually interactive, one-stop-shop, federal budget Web site.
• Use visual recording and mini animations to convey complex ideas.
• Ask federal agencies to adopt "core principles for public engagement."
• Centralize petitions to Congress and the president.
• Create an online citizen participation portal.
• Public FOIA archive on every agency Web site.
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