"Transparency" is a concept with broad popular appeal that can mean very different things to different people. When is transparency an effective strategy for progressive reform, and when is it instead merely feeding anti-government "gotcha" journalism? How can transparency be used to favorably shift public debates about taxes and budgets, and how can transparency mechanisms be used to hold corporations more accountable to the public? Speakers from three groups that have worked for years to win results using transparency will discuss their experiences and general lessons.
Senior Analyst on Tax and Budget Policy, U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Phineas Baxandall has spent the last six years bringing the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) further into tax and budget policy, chiefly focused on infrastructure investment and stopping offshore tax dodging. Phineas, a long-time member of Dollars & Sense magazine, earned his... Read More →
Dubbed "the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies" and "God's witness to corporate welfare," Greg LeRoy founded Good Jobs First in 1998 upon winning the Public Interest Pioneer Award. He has been training and consulting for state and local governments... Read More →
President and CEO, Center for Effective Government
Katherine McFate is the President and CEO of the Center for Effective Government, a nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization whose mission is to build an open, accountable government that invests in the common good and advances the priorities of an active, informed citizenry... Read More →
Tuesday October 8, 2013 1:00pm - 2:10pm EDT
Salon 3&4
