OMB Watch Goes on the Road with a State-by-State Analysis of the Estate Tax and Charitable Giving

OMB Watch’s John Irons is on the road to promote a new study that details state-by-state analysis of charitable losses from the estate tax repeal.

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Appropriations and Emergency Supplemental

Update on the President's emergency supplemental appropriation for Iraq and Afghanistan and the status of the remaining regular appropriations.

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Ohio Bill Prohibits Access to Health Information

The Ohio Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of a bill that allows the Ohio Department of Health to hide information from the public during health department investigations. The provisions were part of Ohio State Senate’s bioterrorism legislation (S 6) aimed at improving response to public health emergencies in the event of a biological terrorism attack.

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Pentagon Puts Public Papers Back Online

The Department of Defense returned a large collection of unclassified policy directives to its web site, Secrecy News reported on Oct. 16. According to the Associated Press, the Defense Department documents in question included papers that explained department policy on conscientious objectors, displaying flags, and hundreds of other unclassified materials.

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Supreme Court Is Asked to Hear a Case on Government Secrecy

The Center for National Security Studies has asked the Supreme Court to decide whether the government rightfully kept secret the names of individuals arrested after September 11.

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Ideas Wanted for 10 Most Wanted Government Docs

We are looking for a few good documents--the Ten Most Wanted government documents for 2004, to be precise. And we're hoping you, as an expert in this area, can help. As part of an effort to fight increased government secrecy, we would like your help in identifying: (1) the ten or twenty government documents -- or categories of documents -- you would most like to see the government make available to the public (2) problems you have faced finding government information Send your ideas to info@openthegovernment.org. Examples of the Ten Most Wanted government documents for 2004 may include:

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State Tour Scheduled for EPA's Draft Report on the Environment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced it will hold five public meetings across the U.S. to hear comments on the “Draft Report on the Environment” and discuss the future of the project.

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EPA Releases Final ECHO Database

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed the pilot phase of its Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website. EPA finalized the site after reviewing extensive feedback received on the pilot version from the general public, public interest groups, government users, trade associations and regulated entities.

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Texas Attorney General's Ruling Undermines Public Access

On Oct. 6 the Texas Attorney General rejected the Sunshine Project’s request for access to University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) records under the Texas Public Information Act. This decision prohibits the public from accessing information regarding human health and environmental damages that might result from IBC's research on biological weapons agents. The Sunshine Project has been seeking information on the committee’s membership, policies, meetings and decisions for over a year.

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Administration Lifts Restrictions for Dumping Mining Waste

The Bush administration recently announced it is ending a Clinton-era policy that restricted the amount of public land mining companies can use for dumping waste.

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