“Greater transparency” without information is not greater transparency
To some fanfare, the Senate yesterday unveiled its new open legislation portal. The new site provides some information on bills (i.e., bill text, sponsor memo, status, bill summary, and voting records) that was not previously available online in a single place (though, as far as I can tell, it was all available somewhere). The new site is certainly easier to use than the old one.
Unfortunately,
the new site still doesn't provide New Yorkers with the kind of
critical information residents of other states can get to assess
legislators and legislation: full fiscal notes, committee votes, floor
debate transcripts, previous versions of amended bills, committee
reports, etc.
It's wonderful to have a new database that makes
searching easier. It would be more wonderful if the Senate would post
information that would the database useful to people who want to fully
understand legislation and the actions of their Senators.
We hope that's coming soon.
originally posted on ReformNY.