A few months ago I told you about rumored plans that the Obama administration and new Labor Secretary Hilda Solis would relax financial disclosure rules for labor union leaders. Well, they are rumors no longer. Listen to a new iVoices podcast I recorded with Scott Dilley about the federal disclosure rollback and what it means for workers: Check out this detailed posting at Labor Pains to get a further flavor of the hypocritical complaints from union leadership. The disclosure rollback is bad on another level, as well. As I wrote recently in the issue brief Setting the Standard for Pro-Worker Transparency (PDF), Colorado would do well to emulate the U.S. Department of Labor disclosure rules for its own public-sector unions. … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter Publicly Endorses Posting State Check Register Online
Update: Colorado Spending Transparency has a similar response about the devil being in the details. Read the post to get a sense of just what some of those details might be. Face The State's report was correct: During his State of the State speech, just a moment ago, Gov. Bill Ritter announced he would back the Republican plan to post the state government's check register online. It's good to see transparency go forward as a non-partisan effort. The governor's announcement foresees a landmark moment for Colorado government, one that promises to empower the citizens of the state. The city of Fort Collins has set the standard for transparency. With the state moving forward, too, now it would be good to see other local governments - … [Read more...]