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Let the Sun Shine In

Let the sun shine in

Blair Horner wants to turn a little light on the legislative process in Albany. And he’s succeed, creating Project Sunlight, a Web site (sunlightny.com) that hosts searchable databases containing infomration on lobbyists, campaign contributions, state contracts and legislation.

Horner was hired last year by new State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who had floated the idea of such an online database during his campaign. Cuomo chose Horner because, as head of NYPIRG, Horner had been mapping the corridors of power in Albany for years.

“There were a couple of, you know, dustups in the budget process to get the project funded,” Horner says, “but on April 1st last year the budget was approved and there was money in the budget to create Project Sunlight.”

The site was completed in November and debuted publicly on December 4.

“Nothing like this really exists, no state government has done anything really like this,” Horner says. “Some not-for-profits have done some work like this, but no government had ever done it.”

“We could have easily designed this to be just a website for experienced users—journalists, academic admissions, researchers—and nearly met the letter of what Cuomo was talking about in 2006, which is simultaneously searching databases. But as we got into it, it became clear that this was a really great opportunity to get people educated and to help get people educated on state government.”

Horner comes to Buffalo on Friday, March 14 at 1pm, to give a presentation on Project Sunlight to the media and general public. That event is hosted by the Partnership for the Public Good at the Gloria Parks Community Center, 3242 Main Street.