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.

The Problem Families are watching their budgets and managing spending as efficiently as possible, focusing on necessities and eliminating unessential spending. Government at every level should do the same—while some are, others are not. In the current economic climate most municipal governments are experiencing significant declines in revenues, which has led to spending cutbacks for...