Gillibrand Sets High Standard On Transparency In Congress

Poughkeepsie Journal | Link to Article

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has blazed a path as the most publicly transparent member of the New York congressional delegation since she took office in the House of Representatives in January 2007.

A little-known attorney from Hudson at the time, Gillibrand distinguished herself from colleagues by posting on her congressional website the names of everyone she met with as a House member, her requests for money for special home-state projects — or earmarks — and copies of her personal financial disclosure statements.

And she held "Congress on Your Corner" events to talk with members of the public.

She's continued those practices since she was appointed to the Senate in 2009.

Her one-on-ones with constituents have been renamed "Senate at Your Supermarket" events, and her website has added a comprehensive list of her votes.

Gillibrand's schedule (http://gillibrand.senate.gov/newsroom/schedule) now has an archive. Her eight entries from March 3, for example, include meetings with New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black and two Goldman Sachs executives, Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn and lobbyist Michael Pease.

But Gillibrand has become less transparent in one area — income taxes.

In early 2009, she released three years of tax returns to reporters, something that only two other senators — Democrats Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Richard Durbin of Illinois — had done. Last year, Gillibrand did not release copies of her annual tax return, but that largely escaped attention because other New York delegation members don't make a practice of releasing their returns.

Most members of Congress consider their personal financial disclosure statements — which report holdings in broad ranges — sufficient information for the public. Those reports are online (http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/index.html) along with reports on travel and office expenses.

So which lawmakers make extra efforts to be transparent?

The two people who followed Gillibrand representing New York's 20th Congressional District — Democrat Scott Murphy, elected in a March 2009 special election, and Republican Chris Gibson, who defeated Murphy in November — largely followed Gillibrand's example.

Gibson takes the public-diary concept a step further. On a new website launched Thursday, he posts all his events for the coming week.

Most other delegation members don't disclose much more than required.

After Democrats lost their House majority in the November election, Republicans announced a dozen rules changes advocated by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, including plans to webcast Rules Committee sessions using small remote-controlled cameras. The meetings have been webcast since January.

Party flips spur change

Other reforms House Republicans implemented this year included posting the legislative language of all bills online 72 hours prior to a vote and requiring each committee to post its annual oversight plan online.

John Wonderlich, policy director for the Sunlight Foundation, said his group's wish list includes many more proposals, but he's gratified by the progress.

House disclosure reforms have been driven largely by changes in party control.

In 2007, when Democrats regained the majority after 12 years out of power, they enacted reforms that included linking lawmakers' names to requests for earmarks.

This year, Republicans imposed a moratorium on all earmark requests and vowed to cut federal spending.

Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, who has tracked changes in earmark practices, said the 2007 and 2011 flips in party control pressured Republicans "to play one-upsmanship" to reclaim the mantle of fiscal reform.

But Gillibrand's practice of going beyond what's required hasn't been widely emulated.

Only about 10 members of Congress post diaries of their official meetings, Wonderlich said.

Some lawmakers have increased their disclosure because of social media software such as Twitter.

For example, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer often doesn't make his schedule of planned appearances available except through his Twitter account. On Friday morning, his office tweeted, "On Twitter First: Chuck will be on @meetthepress w/ @chucktodd this Sunday."

Twitter is the best way to find out what New York's senators and your local House member are up to, but it provides only a small window into lawmakers' activities.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, Westchester County, said she hasn't decided what information she'll post on the congressional websites. Hayworth is using the prototype websites issued to new lawmakers when they were sworn in.