Issue Position: Transparency

Issue Position

"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" wrote future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in 1913. Mike Quigley shares this view, and built his career on the idea that the only way to make a government responsive to the people is to open its proceedings to the public.

As the Co-Chair of the House Transparency Caucus, Mike has pressed for greater public access to the legislative process. The Caucus supports President Obama's Open Government Directive and facilitates communication between lawmakers and experts in public access initiatives. The Caucus has received national as well as international attention. In recognition of his efforts with the Transparency Caucus, Congressman Quigley was recently consulted by the Government of Chile in its efforts to promote greater transparency.

Mike has introduced several significant pieces of legislation to provide taxpayers with greater knowledge and insight on the actions of their elected representative:

The Taxpayer Receipt Act would provide each taxpayer with a receipt itemizing exactly where their dollars went in the Federal budget.

The Transparency in Government Act calls for records, votes and disclosure reports from every sector of government to be made available to the public in a searchable, sortable and downloadable format.

The Transparent and Sustainable Budget Act addresses critical weaknesses in the existing budget process that have obscured the nation's growing fiscal problems and impeded efforts to reform the budget before it is too late.

The Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement Act would require lobbyists to identify which offices they've met with while working on behalf of special interests.

The Congressionally Mandated Reports Act provides the general public with unimpeded access to taxpayer-funded reports produced by federal agencies.

In addition to his legislative work bringing transparency to Congress, Mike is leading by example in his own office. Mike publishes his schedule on a daily basis on his congressional website, providing his constituents with a view of how he spends his time. He also published all earmark requests on his website in the first week he was in office and continued to do so until earmarks were eliminated in the current Congress.

Mike publishes all political contributions on his campaign website on a daily basis, going well beyond the reporting requirements mandated by the Federal Election Commission.

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