US House Adopting Transparency Reforms: Listen, Springfield.

The 112th Congress, which convened today, plans to adopt new governing rules for guiding the legislative process. Multiple transparency reforms are among the changes under consideration. Springfield should take a look and consider them too.

by Kate Piercy

The 112th Congress, which convened today, plans to adopt new governing rules for guiding the legislative process. Multiple transparency reforms are among the changes under consideration, and according to the new Republican House majority, under the rules Committees must:

• Post online their committee rules
• Provide 3 days notice for all markups
• Circulate the text of legislation to be marked-up no less than 24 hours before the markup
• Post online all votes in the committee 48 hours after a markup (A proposal from Rep. Reichert)
• Make available online the text of any amendments adopted in a markup (A proposal from Rep. Jenkins)
• Post online “truth in testimony” information, “with appropriate redactions to protect the privacy of the witness” so that any conflicts of interest with hearing witnesses are made public
• Make available online the member attendance record for each hearing and markup within 24 hours
• Webcast and make available online their hearings and markups

However, these rules can be waived. We will wait to see what the members establish and actually follow for making government transparent and more accountable to citizens. Illinois government could take the ideas from this list and make itself more transparent, too. For additional ideas on making Illinois government more transparent, check out the Institute’s 2010 Legislators’ Guide to the Issues (our 2011 Guide will be coming out soon!).