Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) introduced legislation on Tuesday to force all executive branch agencies to publish non-confidential data online. The bill, known as the Public Online Information Act (POIA), would also create an open data protocol for the federal government, which would demand that agencies display this data in a user-friendly database.

While plenty of government data is already legally required to be made public, much of it is inaccessible as anyone who has ever tried to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request can tell you. Some government agencies are reluctant to release data; others struggle to keep pace with FOIA requests, and then some of the data released is extremely difficult to read.

“Right now, our government will stamp something 'public' and lock it away in a warehouse in Maryland,” Rep. Israel explained. “That's about as accessible and transparent as a nuclear missile silo.”

“It's time for 'public' to mean something different,” he said. “My bill will require that all executive branch agencies make their public documents easily available online. People across the country -- from scholars to school children -- should be able to see any public government information from the convenience of their computer."

Helping Rep. Israel write the legislation were think tanks that work towards more transparent government in Washington. Ellen Miller, co-director of the Sunlight Foundation, praised Rep. Israel's efforts. “We commend Rep. Israel for his work to ensure that government information will be available to everyone within a few keystrokes on a computer,” Miller said.  

Another group that helped draft the legislation, the Personal Democracy Forum, was also full of praise for POIA. Founder Andrew Rasiej said that the bill will “redefine what the term 'public information' means for democracy and civic life in the 21st century.”

The legislation would not, however, force government agencies to publish data from before the bill's enactment, and would give government agencies three years to come up with a system of only making data acquired after POIA's passing public.

Unless, of course, that information is about President Obama's true place of birth, which, as we all know, will be kept under wraps at his underground lair inside the Communist Party compound in France. Just joking, White House.

Read more about POIA from Truthout.org.