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Why the Federal Register Is the Most Important Publication in America Right Now
It is not often you see a headline that is so documents-specific as this:
- Bush's Bureaucratic Dark Arts: Why the Federal Register Is the Most Important Publication in America Right Now, by Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive, Posted on Alternet, August 23, 2008.
More Lame Ducks: shortened reviews for regulations
OMB Watch is reporting on the Bush Administration Pushing Last-Minute Rollbacks (08/19/2008). "The Bush administration is trying to finalize several new rules, covering a range of policy issues, before a new administration takes over and despite its own policy directive." The article reports that one proposed change in regulations missed the administration's own deadline for new rules by two and a half months. It also says that the The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the White House office in charge of approving, changing, or rejecting new administration policy, spent only three days reviewing one proposed rule when the average time as been 71 days. Government information specialists should be aware of this since the public comment period for some changes in rules has been reduced from the standard 60 days to 30 days. Proposals included changes to Endangered Species Act; changes to how estimates for on-the-job risks are calculated; and changes that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans. A leaked draft rule that could reduce women's access to birth control by classifying oral contraception as a form of abortion has not been submitted to OIRA yet. Continue reading
Authentication: The Next Frontier in Online Government Resources
[Cross posted on LegalResearchPlus.com] On a daily basis I visit various court and other government websites, often to locate recent opinions, regulations, or agency decisions. It is a common practice for law librarians and for any researcher who wants very recent sources or does not have access to commercial databases. Admittedly it is far less often that I consider whether the case I just downloaded is an authentic representation of the court’s decision. But consider these two examples. The first from the California Courts website and the second from the website for the First Circuit Court of Appeals: “The Official Reports page is primarily intended to provide effective public access to all of California's precedential appellate decisions; it is not intended to function as an alternative to commercial computer-based services and products for comprehensive legal research.” “Although every effort is made to ensure that the information contained on this site is correct and timely, the First Circuit does not warrant its accuracy. Portions of the information may be incorrect or not current. The information contained on this site should not be cited as legal authority.” In 2007 the American Association of Law Librarians completed a survey of states' online statutes, regulations and case law to determine which states, if any, were deeming their online material to be official and/or authentic. The survey, “State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources,” is available from the Washington Affairs Office of AALL. Survey authors Richard Matthews and Mary Alice Baish concluded that while many states considered the primary legal material that they put online to be official, no state had taken steps to authenticate those materials. In a world where online research is becoming the norm, are courts (and other government websites) really keeping up with the needs of the people they serve by not offering official and authenticated versions of their opinions online? -Kate Wilko Continue reading
Secret Laws
Secret Laws are laws that citizens and even Congress do not know about or are forbidden from seeing. A recent Senate hearing examines how these "laws" become law and why they are 'repugnant' and 'an abomination.' The official page for the hearing with links to written testimony and a video of hearing: Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government, Hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, April 30, 2008. A brief overview of the hearing by Steven Aftergood with links his and others' to testimony: Secret Law Debated in Senate Hearing, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, April 30, 2008. A concise op-ed by Senator Russ Feingold about secret laws: Government in secret, By Russ Feingold, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2008. Continue reading
OMB Watch Launches Regulatory Resource Center
OMB Watch Launches Regulatory Resource Center This from yesterday's email announcing the center:
Today, OMB Watch launched a web-based Regulatory Resource Center at www.ombwatch.org/regresources. The Resource Center provides tips for advocates who want to get involved in regulatory decision making and educational resources for anyone interested in how the federal regulatory process works. The first part of the Regulatory Resource Center is the Advocacy Center. The Advocacy Center shows users how to comment on federal regulations and provides instructions for using Regulations.gov, the government's portal for public comments. The Advocacy Center also has instructions for filing a petition for rulemaking and tips on how to find rules in the Federal Register. The second part of the Resource Center is the Policy Library. The Policy Library contains a flowchart showing how rules move through the regulatory pipeline; a list and brief description of rulemaking agencies; background information describing how the regulatory process works from beginning to end; and a glossary of common terms relating to regulation. The Policy Library also has a reference section, which provides links to legislation, executive orders, and government reports on regulatory policy.Continue reading
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