As Michael Barone has noted, a new Rasmussen poll indicates that 83 percent of voters want legislation to be posted online for the public to read before it receives a vote. Only 6 percent oppose the idea.
There is already a resolution to change House rules in order to require such transparency, proposed by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. The resolution would require that legislation be available online for the public for 72 hours before the House considers it. Walden started a discharge petition last week in order to bring it to the House floor over the objections of the House Democratic leadership.
The petition has 180 signatures as of today. Among the signers are Democratic Reps. Dan Boren, D-Okla., Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, and Brian Baird, D-Wash. But Walden will need a lot more Democratic support — a majority of House members, or 218, must sign it to guarantee a floor vote on the bill.
