Date: Sun, 17 Apr 1994 22:31:04 -0700 From: Jim Warren Subject: GovAccess.033: Congress lists; NY & CA Legis; LWV; Rural Data; More Apr.17, 1994 WHEN EMAILING NOTES TO LEGISLATORS, SEND THE VERY BEST When sending emailed support or opposition statements to state or federal legislators, please be sure to make them reasonably formal and be sure to include your name, title, organization-if-any, snailmail address and voice-phone. Reasons: Your statements - especially those sent to a bill-author indicating your *support* - will typically be printed out and distributed in a packet to other legislators and their staff who will next be considering the bill in which you are interested. In the case of statements *opposing* a bill ... hmmm, it'd be best to send them to a legislator known to be opposing the bill. Less chance for them to be, uh, misplaced, and a greater chance for them to be circulated to other key legislators and staffers. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& CONTACT LIST OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, PLUS GOVT-REFORM FILES, ALL BY FTP From croberts@crl.com Thu Apr 7 16:38:33 1994 From: Char Roberts Jim, I have a list of the members of the 103rd Congress, their states, party affiliation, phone and fax numbers on my personal ftp site which I have made available to other groups already. It is from the Jan. 1993 US Congress Yellow Book but has been gradually updated as people send in corrections for their own congresscritters. ... Please feel free to advertise the location in the GovAccess newsletter. Note that my ftp site is read-only, so anything which is put there has to be e-mailed to me first. Also please note that I have LIMITED storage so I am not embarrassed to be quite dictatorial about what goes there! (I also remove stuff whenever it has become stale in my own humble opinion!). I'm using my ftp site mostly for government-reform related files. Usually the file names are self-explanatory. Feel free to browse. The congresscritter list I have is called congfone.txt. ftp CRL.com login: anonymous password: your e-mail address cd /users/ro/croberts ls (or dir) to display list/directory of files get [desired filename] [filename] [filename] [etc] quit Note that file names are case sensitive so type carefully. --Char &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& GOPHER AND TELNET ACCESS TO CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION From watkins@scilibx.UCSC.EDU Thu Apr 7 09:04:09 1994 From: Steve Watkins some of the items mentioned in past postings are also already available via InfoSlug (the guide to retrieving legislative information, for instance). The InfoSlug Gopher server is at gopher.ucsc.edu for those who have access to their own Gopher clients, but we also offer open access via Telnet to infoslug.ucsc.edu using infoslug as the login. This might be an easier way for people to get at some of these files rather than having to FTP them. Steve Watkins Science Library University of California, Santa Cruz watkins@scilibx.ucsc.edu &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& EFFORTS TO OPEN UP NEW YORK STATE'S LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION From: Reg Neale Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 13:50:24 EDT At the suggestion of another activist netter, I am writing to you to alert you to new developments in our effort to get New York State's public legislative information online. The NY legislature does collect, organize and maintain computerized legislative information, including text of bills, member's voting records etc. However, this information is not freely available to the public. Instead, it is provided to a captive commercial firm which sells it to special-interest groups, at prices ordinary citizens cannot afford. A bill was just introduced in the NY Assembly to make public information freely and timely available, via "the most-accessible and least-cost public network" i.e., the Internet. Bill A10035 was referred to the Assembly's Governmental Operations Committee, where it is certain to die unless there is a massive input from concerned citizens. Any New Yorkers reading this should call or write their assemblyperson to urge immediate action on this bill. It could also be helpful to contact these two individuals: Assemblyman Samuel Colman, Chairman Governmental Operations Committee Room 731 Legislative Office Building Albany NY 12248 518-455-5118 voice 518-455-5119 fax David W. Keiper, Commissioner Legislative Bill Drafting Commission Room 301 Capitol Building Albany NY 12247 518-455-7500 CIS 71075,2006 [Internet: 71075.2006@compuserve.com] Voice your support for public access to legislative information. If you know of anyone who should be involved in this effort, or if you know of another appropriate place to post this message, please contact me. Reginald Neale, Sec'y, Citizens for Open Access to Legislation (C.O.A.L.) 716-263-7864 day 716-924-7481 eve [ Forwarded by Stanton McCandlish Fri Apr 8 13:00:47 1994, who added: Don't just talk, DO SOMETHING. I'm aware of at least 2 civil-liberties- favoring state bills that have failed just recently, in both cases due to lack of public input. Activism got a bill very similar to this one passed in CA last year, and it can work in NY too. See ftp.eff.org: /pub/EFF/Issues/ Activism/* for more info on this type of thing. If the legislation is available to us, it will be archived at ftp.eff.org: /pub/EFF/Legislation/ Foreign_and_local/NY/, so check periodically. Those in the NY area, please spread the work on ny.* newsgroups, local BBSs, apropos mailing lists, etc. ] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OFFERS ONLINE INFO, BUT INITIALLY ONLY ON COMPU$ERVE From fpack@crl.com Sun Apr 10 03:17:10 1994 From: Fran Packard Jim, Thought you may be interested to know that the League of Women Voters of California is conducting an online Election Services project on CompuServe. It includes asking participants in our message forum to submit questions for the statewide candidates. In keeping with our traditional ways of providing information about candiates, all those running for the same office will receive the same questions. We're requesting that the candidates respond in writing and on disk. Their answers will be posted in the League library (League/Voters CA) in the California forum. Fran Packard or <73162.3025@compuserve.com> [ This is a delightful first step. But it will *really* be valuable when it's posted for free global access via the *bit* net - the Internet - in one or several ftp sites, including permission to freely repost and re-circulate. While only to CI$, its potential citizen-audience and user-base is severely limited. Keep up the good work - and spread it beyond the CI$ elite. :-) By the way, I understand that the state President of the California LWV is Marlys Robertson, mrobertson@aol.com . --jim ] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& SOUTH CAROLINA MOVE TO GET STATE LEGISLATIVE DATA ONLINE From: glennb7490@aol.com Jim, I receive your Government Access Newsletter and am using your info to try to start a similar movement here in SC. ... Thanks for all you're doing to help restore openness in our governments. You're making a difference. Keep up the good work. Peace, Glenn Busbin &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& CONFERENCE ON RURAL DATAFICATION From shaffer@CIC.Net Fri Apr 8 09:58:11 1994 From: Kimberly Shaffer Second Annual Conference on Rural Datafication May 23-24, 1994 Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Minneapolis, MN Come for practical information you can put to work in your community. Meet people who are learning how to solve the problems of bringing the Internet to underserved areas. Share your successes and horror stories! This years Rural Datafication conference begins with a day of Internet workshops designed to help you navigate your way on the Information highway. The conference follows with a day and a half of useful presentations and breakout sessions. [extensive program details deleted --jim] The conference fee is $99 if paid before April 30, 1994, $125 if paid after April 30. The conference fee includes all Sunday workshops, Monday and Tuesday conference sessions, lunch on Sunday and Monday, and Sunday and Monday receptions and entertainment. ... To register for the conference and workshops, contact CICNet, at 313-998-6103 or 800-947-4754 and ask for a copy of the registration materials. Registration will not be accepted via email. Or send a message to epps@cic.net or ruraldata-info-request@cic.net . The Rural Datafication project and conference are sponsored by: CICNet, INDNet, IREN, MichNet, MRNet, netILLINOIS, NYSERNet, PREPnet, WiscNet, and WVNET. And is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& WHAT OUR FEDERAL LEGISLATORS GET THAT WE CAN'T GET AND WHY From glennb7490@aol.com Fri Apr 8 11:20:41 1994 Xxx asked me to send you a copy of a message I sent her. It's self-explanatory. ... >... I was talking with my congresscritter's office today ... and >remembered what ... about the members of the HORs and >Sinate using our tax money to buy info from LEGI-SLATE. I >asked the staffer (a sysop or something) about that. She said >that was correct, and that the services they use in that office >are LEGIS (the in-house system) and the Roll Call AM and PM >editions. The sinate uses, I think, LEGI-SLATE. She didn't know >how much this costs or if there is any way you or I could track >legislation without paying a third party. She told me to go to >the library and read Congressional Quarterly each week. >Phhhhtttt. LEGIS is not available for public use because, as >she said, "someone might use it to get into a congressman's >computer". Balderdash. I tried to explain to her that I >appreciated the need for a secure system, but that didn't >preclude the public's right to access info directly so that we >can keep an eye on things without paying expensive thirds >parties for what is OUR stuff. She stuck to her guns about >security, but promised to look into the subject and call me >next week to let me know what, if anything, can be done to >allow us to track bills via computer. I'm writing her a letter >telling her about the legislation introduced in CA and MN which >opens these state governments to public access. I think I'll >also send a couple of interesting addresses to her while I'm at >it. NASA and the White Sands Missle Range ought to do it. They >need security, but not so much that we can't get SOME info out >of their computers. Do you have any addresses that would >impress her? FBI or CIA or IRS? ... [To which the recipient responded:] ... What a hoot! Some evil taxpayer might use LEGIS to hack a congressman's computer! Yes, indeed, we must make the U.S. government and every legislator SECURE from the constituents! I wish I could give you a list of addresses which would singe that staffer's eyebrows - how about the CIA World Fact Book? Nah. There's a listserver for NATO data... Nah. There's president@whitehouse.gov... Hah! That's the one I got into a flap with over the altered documents they put there. Not too impressive. Actually, there is a lot of government information all over the Internet but most of it seems to be in university archives. The country's college political science and economics departments don't seem too worried about "security." ... I'd like you to send [GovAccess] the story you just sent me. I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry! ... [ As to addresses illustrating that perhaps Members of Congress would remain safe even if the public had Internet access to the public's Congressional information, how about dockmaster.ncsc.mil (the National Security Agency's public Internet host)? Or maybe even hr.house.gov via which 16 House Members and two House committees have public Internet addresses? --jim] &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& ONLINE PUBLIC POLICY FORUM & NOTICES From clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu Wed Feb 23 10:27:15 1994 From: "Steven L Clift" PUBPOL-L is an electronic forum for graduate students, professionals, faculty, and staff in the fields of public policy, public administration, planning, and other related areas. The topics covered in postings include current public policy issues, events and conferences, research, teaching, curriculum and courses, employment and career opportunities, activities of public policy practitioners, and other topics of interest. PUBPOL-L encourages the electronic posting of newsletters, conference notices, and other text normally distributed in paper form by public policy schools and their centers or programs, government agencies, or public-sector oriented organizations. In the near future materials posted to PUBPOL-L will also be available via Gopher at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. The gopher is located at - next1.acs.umn.edu port: 3340. NEW DISCUSSION LIST: PUBPOL-D is a forum dedicated to open, serious, and substantial discussion of public policy issues and for extended comment on items posted to PUBPOL-L. To SUBSCRIBE address your message to: LISTSERV@VM1.SPCS.UMN.EDU or LISTSERV@UMINN1.BITNET In the text portion write: Subscribe PUBPOL-L Your Name For example: Subscribe PUBPOL-L Susan Smith TO SUBSCRIBE TO BOTH PUBPOL-L and PUBPOL-D: Subscribe PUBPOL-L Your Name Subscribe PUBPOL-D Your Name ... *::Steven:L.Clift::::::::::::::::::::::clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu::# #::Moderator,:Public:Policy Network:(PUBPOL-L):::::::::::::::::::* *::Hubert:H.:Humphrey:Institute:of:Public:Affairs::::::::::::::::# #::University:of:Minnesota, Minneapolis,:MN:55455::::::::::::::::* *::(612):824-3747:::::::::(612):625-6351:fax:::::::::::::::::::::# &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& "Majority: That quality that distinguishes a crime from a law." -- message in Dave Farber's fortune-cookie Mo' as it Is. --jim Jim Warren, columnist for MicroTimes, Government Technology, BoardWatch, etc. 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/415-851-2814 >> To join or drop the GovAccess list, email to jwarren@well.sf.ca.us .<< >> Permission herewith granted for unlimited reposting and recirculation.<<