Reports

Extending Current Estate Tax Rates May Force Spending Cuts in Education and Health in 2013

With wealth disparities between the wealthy and middle class continuing to grow under current law, now is not the time to reduce or continue already low rates of taxation on wealth inherited from the top one percent of estates.

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Mitigating the Impact of a Temporary Sequester

On Jan. 2, 2013, if Congress and the president have not enacted legislation delaying or canceling a process known as "sequestration," $109 billion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts will be applied to defense and non-defense programs in 2013. If these cuts were to occur, however, the White House would have substantial authority to mitigate and postpone the impact on those programs that are not exempt for several weeks. Moreover, large portions of the federal budget would be exempt from the cuts.

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The Regulatory Tsunami That Wasn’t

This report shows that there is little difference between the Obama administration and past administrations in their overall level of regulatory activity. There has been an increase in the number of significant rules during the Obama administration, but that has been driven by the statutory and judicial deadlines the Obama administration faced and by regulatory actions left uncompleted by prior administrations. The number of pending regulations leading into this election year is remarkably similar to comparable time periods under past administrations and does not provide any evidence of plans for an avalanche of regulations to come.

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The Right to Know, the Responsibility to Protect: State Actions Are Inadequate to Ensure Effective Disclosure of the Chemicals Used in Natural Gas Fracking

The Right to Know, the Responsibility to Protect examines the actions being taken or considered by state governments to ensure that the public can track the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (also known as natural gas fracking). By examining current state disclosure laws, identifying the gap between effective disclosure policy and existing practice, and reviewing the most recent evidence on the health risks of exposure to the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, we hope this report will encourage state and local authorities to improve their chemical disclosure standards.

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Upholding the Public's Trust: Key Features for Effective State Accountability Websites

 Transparency is crucial in a democracy – and in a 21st century democracy, transparency means public access to information online. This report considers four key areas of transparency in the U.S. state and federal governments: campaign finance, lobbying, procurement, and public officials’ assets. The report describes the features needed for effective online disclosure in these areas and highlights leading practices in the states. Some information about each of the four topic areas is currently disclosed online by many states, as well as the federal government. However, there is wide variation within each area in the method and manner of online disclosure.

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Strides and Stumbles: Mixed Results for the Obama Administration on Freedom of Information

The Obama administration has continued to make progress on implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In fiscal year (FY) 2011, the administration processed more FOIA requests than in either of the past two years. In fact, agencies processed considerably more requests in FY 2011 than they received altogether the previous year. Nevertheless, the surge in FOIA requests outpaced the administration's increase in processing. This resulted in a growth of the administration's combined FOIA backlog.

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Safeguarding the Public's Health and Safety: The President's FY 2013 Public Protections Funding Requests

When public agencies are effective and responsive, the protections they afford to the American people are largely invisible. Americans have largely forgotten the “bad old days” before there were meat inspectors, toy inspectors, workplace safety standards, clean air and water standards, and laws against the release of toxic chemical waste. In a new analysis released Feb. 17, we examine the “public protections budget” – a diverse set of federal programs in agencies whose mission is to protect the health and welfare of the American public.

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An Agenda to Strengthen Our Right to Know: Empowering Citizens with Environmental, Health, and Safety Information

Public engagement and access to environmental and public health information are vital democratic tools. A lack of government openness impairs everything from preventing – and cleaning up – oil spills to protecting children from toxic chemicals. The need to break down information barriers and bring the public back into the policymaking process is greater than ever. A lack of access to quality information – and to policymakers – hurts people and the landscapes we cherish and depend on. This report includes a comprehensive set of recommendations that are aimed at filling critical data gaps and empowering the American people to protect themselves, their families, and their communities from toxic pollution and other environmental health hazards.

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Assessing Progress Toward a 21st Century Right to Know

On Nov. 12, 2008, the right-to-know community published a set of detailed transparency recommendations for President-elect Barack Obama and Congress. Those recommendations, titled Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda, were developed over a two-year period with input from more than 100 groups and individuals. The seventy recommendations urged the new president and the incoming Congress to act quickly on a number of key government openness issues while also encouraging a more systematic, longer-term approach to a variety of other transparency problems that plague the federal government. This report seeks to assess progress on each recommendation near the midpoint of the president’s term as part of Sunshine Week 2011.

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The Obama Approach to Public Protection: The Regulatory Process

When Barack Obama took the oath of office in January 2009, the country faced problems unlike any the country had faced in generations. The economic system was near collapse. Each year, food-borne illnesses sickened millions, workplace hazards killed and injured thousands on the job, and air pollution triggered asthma attacks in millions of children and adults. Long procedural delays and political interference in the regulatory process caused deficits in safety and health standards, exacerbating these problems. This report examines efforts to address such delays and interference by focusing on the regulatory process, including transparency and participation, regulatory analysis, scientific integrity, and the role of the White House, especially the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in shaping the administration's record. This is the third of three OMB Watch reports evaluating the Obama administration’s record on regulatory issues.

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