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ALBANY---The person who has been a government watchdog for the past 25 years has now become part of the government.
Blair Horner, who served as the legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) has been named by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to be a special advisor on policy and public integrity where he will oversee the development of "Project Sunlight", the state's first-ever comprehensive Internet database tracking donors, lobbyists, special interests, state contracts and elected officials and the links between them.
NYPIRG is a non-partisan, research and advocacy organization.
While many databases are currently public domain, they are difficult to navigate, Cuomo claims. Additionally, the current process of accessing public information can be burdensome and time consuming, he says. "Project Sunlight goes well beyond the existing systems in making public information accessible. By combining multiple databases into a single, easy-to-use Internet resource, New Yorkers will be able to quickly examine elected officials' voting records and campaign contributors, and find out which entities may have benefited from their actions", Cuomo claims.
There is no timetable about when this database will become available.
2-22-07
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© 2007 North
Country Gazette
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