HOUSE NEWS: FROM TINA SABLANGood afternoon everyone,
One basic measure to ensure transparency in government is to provide sufficient public notice for public meetings. Sufficient notice allows stakeholders to properly prepare for meetings they may wish, or need, to attend, and encourages careful deliberation of policies that will affect the community before decisions are made. Except under emergency circumstances, the Open Government Act (PL 8-41) requires 72 hours public notice for meetings.
Although the Open Government Act (PL 8-41) does not currently apply to the Legislature, I believe that it should. I am committed to issuing public notices and agendas for legislative sessions as soon as that information is available to me, until the Open Government Act is applied to the Legislature and public notices for meetings are issued as a matter of course. At a minimum, I will distribute these notices via email and online at the Commonwealth Dialogues, www.tinasablan.com/forum .
I have been pleased to note that there are many other legislators who are also interested in improving transparency in the Legislature. Almost all of the current legislators in both the Senate and the House signed the petition to fully apply the Open Government Act to the Legislature last summer. More recently, there have been discussions to incorporate requirements for public notice in the official House rules, and to overhaul the official Legislature website to make it more user-friendly and to ensure that it is updated regularly.
I continue to be committed to working with my colleagues to introduce legislation that would fully apply the Open Government Act to the legislature, and welcome additional signatures to the Open Government Act petitions that were circulated over the summer. (Although we were unable to collect enough signatures in time for the 2007 ballot, we can still collect signatures for 2009; we are just a couple hundred signatures short).
This afternoon, I received Orders of Business for two sessions to be held on Tuesday, January 22 at the Legislature:
Saipan and Northern Islands Delegation, 9am (Organizational Session)
CNMI House of Representatives, 2pm
I am attaching these Orders of Business in this email, and will also be posting them online at the Commonwealth Dialogues website, www.tinasablan.com/forum .
Please feel free to contact me at 483-3935 or http://us.f359.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=tinasablan@gmail.com for any questions or comments, or to sign the Open Government Act petition.
Thanks very much, and have a safe and peaceful Martin Luther King Day weekend.
Sincerely,
Tina Sablan
-- Tina SablanHouse of Representatives
16th CNMI LegislaturePO Box 500586Saipan, MP 96950
One basic measure to ensure transparency in government is to provide sufficient public notice for public meetings. Sufficient notice allows stakeholders to properly prepare for meetings they may wish, or need, to attend, and encourages careful deliberation of policies that will affect the community before decisions are made. Except under emergency circumstances, the Open Government Act (PL 8-41) requires 72 hours public notice for meetings.
Although the Open Government Act (PL 8-41) does not currently apply to the Legislature, I believe that it should. I am committed to issuing public notices and agendas for legislative sessions as soon as that information is available to me, until the Open Government Act is applied to the Legislature and public notices for meetings are issued as a matter of course. At a minimum, I will distribute these notices via email and online at the Commonwealth Dialogues, www.tinasablan.com/forum .
I have been pleased to note that there are many other legislators who are also interested in improving transparency in the Legislature. Almost all of the current legislators in both the Senate and the House signed the petition to fully apply the Open Government Act to the Legislature last summer. More recently, there have been discussions to incorporate requirements for public notice in the official House rules, and to overhaul the official Legislature website to make it more user-friendly and to ensure that it is updated regularly.
I continue to be committed to working with my colleagues to introduce legislation that would fully apply the Open Government Act to the legislature, and welcome additional signatures to the Open Government Act petitions that were circulated over the summer. (Although we were unable to collect enough signatures in time for the 2007 ballot, we can still collect signatures for 2009; we are just a couple hundred signatures short).
This afternoon, I received Orders of Business for two sessions to be held on Tuesday, January 22 at the Legislature:
Saipan and Northern Islands Delegation, 9am (Organizational Session)
CNMI House of Representatives, 2pm
I am attaching these Orders of Business in this email, and will also be posting them online at the Commonwealth Dialogues website, www.tinasablan.com/forum .
Please feel free to contact me at 483-3935 or http://us.f359.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=tinasablan@gmail.com for any questions or comments, or to sign the Open Government Act petition.
Thanks very much, and have a safe and peaceful Martin Luther King Day weekend.
Sincerely,
Tina Sablan
-- Tina SablanHouse of Representatives
16th CNMI LegislaturePO Box 500586Saipan, MP 96950
Tel: (670) 664-8931Cel: (670) 483-3935
Email: http://us.f359.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=tinasablan@gmail.com
Visit the Commonwealth Dialogues at www.tinasablan.com/forum Please feel free to share this information. To be removed from this list, please email http://us.f359.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=tinasablan@gmail.com .
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16th_SNILD__Jan.22.08.doc (39k) [Preview]
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Visit the Commonwealth Dialogues at www.tinasablan.com/forum Please feel free to share this information. To be removed from this list, please email http://us.f359.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=tinasablan@gmail.com .
Attachments
Files:
16th_House__Jan.22.08.doc (67k) [Preview]
Scan and Save to Computer
16th_SNILD__Jan.22.08.doc (39k) [Preview]
Scan and Save to Computer
5 comments:
Guess it's time to start keeping up with Tina's forum again. Thanks Glen.
Yup, she is now at work,I'll post everything she sends me. This is a first...
Pretty effective first step against business as usual.
Refreshing, isn't it?
Wow! This open govt thing isnt so bad huh. I feel part of the process as a coconut abroad beyond the ballot box.
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