CityLab – “Washington, D.C. is positioning itself on the climate policy fast track. The District of Columbia city council voted unanimously last week to approve an expansive climate bill requiring utility providers to generate 100 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources by 2032. If D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the legislation as expected,… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
Female Prisoners Could Benefit From Criminal Justice Measure
NPR: “David Greene talks to Topeka K. Sam, who spent more than 3 years in prison and is a leading voice on overhauling the criminal justice system. She played a pivotal role in a landmark Senate bill. DAVID GREENE, HOST: A bipartisan criminal justice bill is close to becoming law. The Senate passed the measure… Continue Reading
Essay – It’s Time for a Bill of Data Rights
“This essay argues that “data ownership” is a flawed, counterproductive way of thinking about data. It not only does not fix existing problems; it creates new ones. Instead, we need a framework that gives people rights to stipulate how their data is used without requiring them to take ownership of it themselves. The Data Care Act, a bill introduced… Continue Reading
United States Congressional Web Archive now includes content for 113th and 114th Congresses
LC – In Custodia Legis: “The Library of Congress Web Archiving Program is dedicated to providing reliable access to historical web content from the legislative branch. To that end, the Library has just released an update to the United States Congressional Web Archive. The archive, which includes member sites from the House and Senate, as well as… Continue Reading
Right to Try: Access to Investigational Drugs
EveryCRSReport.com: Right to Try: Access to Investigational Drugs, November 27, 2018 – “The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try (RTT) Act of 2017 became federal law on May 30, 2018. Over the preceding five years, 40 states had enacted related legislation. The goal was to allow individuals with imminently… Continue Reading
Every moment of every day mobile phone apps collect detailed location data
The New York Times – “The millions of dots on the map trace highways, side streets and bike trails — each one following the path of an anonymous cellphone user. One path tracks someone from a home outside Newark to a nearby Planned Parenthood, remaining there for more than an hour. Another represents a person… Continue Reading
Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Background and Selected Options for Further Reform
EveryCRSReport.com – Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Background and Selected Options for Further Reform, December 4, 2018: “Prior to the establishment of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in 1976 and 1977, respectively, Congress did not take much interest in conducting oversight of the Intelligence Community… Continue Reading
Federal Workers Warned Against Talk of ‘Impeachment,’ ‘the Resistance’
Reason.com: “Employees of the federal government were warned this week that both praising and criticizing the Trump administration while on duty may be considered illegal. Federal workers are specifically barred from “advocating” for or against impeachment and from expressing support for the so-called “resistance” to President Donald Trump. Such expressions could be considered violations of… Continue Reading
Guide – FDsys Retirement and Transition to govinfo
GovInfo FAQ: “govinfo is free U.S. Government information for all.” govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch. govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. govinfo will replace FDsys GPO launched govinfo in… Continue Reading
A Sustainable Path Forward Report from the Task Force on US Postal System
United States Postal Service: A Sustainable Path Forward Report from the Task Force on the United States Postal System. December 4, 2018 – “On April 12, 2018, you [President Trump] signed Executive Order 13829, which established the Task Force on the United States Postal System to evaluate the operations and finances of the United States… Continue Reading
GPO Makes Documents Easy to Download and Repurpose in New XML Format
GPO news release: “The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) makes available a subset of enrolled bills, public and private laws, and the Statutes at Large in Beta United States Legislative Markup (USLM) XML, a format that makes documents easier to download and repurpose. The documents available in the Beta USLM XML format include enrolled bills… Continue Reading
GPO to Retire the Federal Digital System Website 11/29/18
“The U.S. Government Publishing Office will officially retire its Federal Digital System (FDsys) website on December 14. The retirement will complete the transition to govinfo (www.govinfo.gov), the user-friendly, modernized site that offers a dynamic way for the public to discover and access information on the three branches of the Federal Government. “With the official transition… Continue Reading
