January 25, 2012 2:43PM

Sunlight Before Signing, Year Three

By Jim Harper

In last night’s State of the Union speech, President Obama called for tax law reforms he says we need. Cato scholars have their doubts about much of what was in the speech, but my interest was piqued by the fact that he said, “Send me these tax reforms, and I will sign them right away.”


You see signing them “right away” would again violate his 2008 campaign promise to post the bills sent him by Congress online for five days before signing them.


That’s a cheeky point, but it is time to focus on campaign promises and their honesty. The beginning of President Obama’s fourth year in office is roughly the beginning of his campaign for another term.


When I first began tracking President Obama’s Sunlight Before Signing promise, I joked with friends that it was career gold because I could write hundreds of blog posts for the next four years without thinking a new thought. Well, it’s not quite that good. This is post thirty-six in the SBS series.


(Each character in that last sentence was a link to a previous post. You can spend a whole day reviewing them!)


Last Thursday, January 19th, was the end of President Obama’s third year, so it’s time to review how he’s been doing with Sunlight Before Signing. It was the president’s first broken promise, and at the mid‐​point of the term he had popped just above 50% in his compliance.


How has he done in the ensuing year?


Well … meh.

Of the 90 bills that became law in the last year, 55 got the Sunlight Before Signing treatment. That’s a 61.1% average, good enough to earn a middle‐​school student a D.


Number of Bills Emergency Bills Bills Posted Five Days
2009 124 0 6
2010 258 1 186
2011 90 0 55
Overall 472 1 247


Year three was stronger than the previous two, so President Obama’s overall Sunlight Before Signing record moves to 52.4%. That’s poor execution on a transparency promise that energized audiences on the 2008 campaign trail. But let’s dig a little deeper.


At the end of the second year, we did some analysis and graphing to explore the hunch that inconsequential bills get plenty of sunlight and the more important ones do not. We return to that analysis.



Media Name: sunlight-before-signing-year-3-by-bill.jpg

Our first look is at compliance with Sunlight Before Signing over time. The updated numbers show essentially the same as they did before. After a first year of outright failure, there has been improvement—nowhere near perfection, just improvement.


(You can also see that Congress’ output dropped dramatically in 2011. That’s a matter of indifference in terms of Sunlight Before Signing—and a good thing if you like limited government.)


Click on the image at right to see a chart of compliance and non‐​compliance by number of bills over time, then compliance as a percentage of bills over time, and, in the pie chart, that overall compliance figure.



Media Name: sunlight-before-signing-year-3-by-page-count.jpg

We also investigated previously the hunch that important bills get less sunlight, while unimportant bills get more. Our first proxy for importance—a rough one—was the number of pages in the bills coming to the president. Generally speaking, longer bills are more important than shorter ones. The second set of charts (click on the left) show Sunlight Before Signing compliance and non‐​compliance over time by number of pages, compliance by percentage of pages, and overall compliance by number of pages. You can see that overall compliance drops well below 50% to about 36%.


Another proxy for importance is the number of final passage votes a bill got in the House and Senate. Generally speaking—and it’s definitely not always true—more important bills are voted on in the House, the Senate, or both. Less important bills go through on voice vote, unanimous consent, and so on. (Sometimes important bills go through without votes because the political balances are so carefully struck. That’s good for Congress “getting things done,” but not good for transparency or your ability to oversee the government.)



Media Name: sunlight-before-signing-year-3-by-votes.jpg

Go ahead and click on the image to the right and you can see the charts reflecting Sunlight Before Signing compliance and non‐​compliance over time with multipliers given to bills getting one or two final votes. That result is not so decisive: compliance drops by a small amount to about 50%.


There’s still time for President Obama to execute on Sunlight Before Signing. He could make a real run at transparency by signalling right now—today—that all bills will get five‐​days online before he signs them. If Congress wants to finish appropriations this year at the last minute. They had better do that at the last minute plus five days or else the government will shut down.


Maybe that’s a silly idea. Maybe no president in his right mind would do something like that. If so, consider that President Obama promised to do exactly that when he campaigned for the presidency. If he was being fanciful during his last campaign, voters might consider that during his next campaign, just as they consider the credibility of all candidates. President Obama’s transparency promises have been unparalleled. His results … quite paralleled.


Perhaps President Obama is going to limp to the next election without fulfilling Sunlight Before Signing. The president could still score some real transparency points by publishing a machine‐​readable organization chart for the executive branch, with agencies, bureaus, programs, and projects all uniquely identified for computer processing. That would be big, and it would not be that hard.


In the meantime, here are the Sunlight Before Signing results for all the bills signed into law during President Obama’s third year.

Public Law Date Presented Date Signed Posted [(Linked)]? Posted Five Days?
P.L. 112–1, To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small


Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes		 1/28/2011 1/31/2011 [1/28/2011] No
P.L. 112–2, A bill to designate the United States courthouse under construction at 98 West


First Street, Yuma, Arizona, as the “John M. Roll United States Courthouse”		 2/11/2011 2/17/2011 [2/11/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–3, The FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 2/23/2011 2/25/2011 [2/23/2011 No
P.L. 112–4, The Further Continuing Appropriations Amendments, 2011 3/2/2011 3/2/2011 [3/2/2011] No
P.L. 112–5, The Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011 3/3/2011 3/4/2011 No No
P.L. 112–6, The Additional Continuing Appropriations Amendments, 2011 3/17/2011 3/18/2011 No No
P.L. 112–7, The Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011 3/30/2011 3/31/2011 3/30/2011 No
P.L. 112–8, The Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act,


2011		 4/9/2011 4/9/2011 No No
P.L. 112–9, The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy


Overpayments Act of 2011		 4/6/2011 4/14/2011 [4/7/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–10, The Department of Defense and Full‐​Year Continuing Appropriations Act,


2011		 4/15/2011 4/15/2011 [4/14/2011] No
P.L. 112–11, A bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located


at 217 West King Street, Martinsburg, West Virginia, as the “W. Craig Broadwater Federal Building and United States Courthouse”		 4/14/2011 4/25/2011 [4/14/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–12, A joint resolution providing for the appointment of Stephen M. Case as a


citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution		 4/14/2011 4/25/2011 [4/14/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–13, To amend the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act to extend the termination


date for the Commission, and for other purposes		 5/2/2011 5/12/2011 [5/2/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–14, The PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 5/26/2011 5/26/2011 No No
P.L. 112–15, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 12781


Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Inverness, California, as the “Specialist Jake Robert Velloza Post Office”		 5/26/2011 5/31/2011 [5/26/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–16, The Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part II 5/26/2011 5/31/2011 [5/26/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–17, The Small Business Additional Temporary Extension Act of 2011 6/1/2011 6/1/2011 [6/1/2011] No
P.L. 112–18, The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 6/1/2011 6/8/2011 [6/1/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–19, A joint resolution providing for the reappointment of Shirley Ann Jackson as a


citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution		 6/21/2011 6/24/2011 [6/21/2011] No
P.L. 112–20, A joint resolution providing for the reappointment of Robert P. Kogod as a


citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution		 6/21/2011 6/24/2011 [6/21/2011] No
P.L. 112–21, The Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part III 6/28/2011 6/29/2011 [6/28/2011] No
P.L. 112–22, A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at


4865 Tallmadge Road in Rootstown, Ohio, as the “Marine Sgt. Jeremy E. Murray Post		 6/23/2011 6/29/2011 [6/23/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–23, A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at


95 Dogwood Street in Cary, Mississippi, as the “Spencer Byrd Powers, Jr. Post Office”		 6/23/2011 6/29/2011 [6/23/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–24, A bill to extend the term of the incumbent Director of the Federal Bureau of


Investigation		 7/26/2011 7/26/2011 [7/26/2011] No
P.L. 112–25, The Budget Control Act of 2011 8/2/2011 8/2/2011 No No
P.L. 112–26, The Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011 7/28/2011 8/3/2011 [7/28/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–27, The Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part IV 8/5/2011 8/5/2011 [8/5/2011] No
P.L. 112–28, To provide the Consumer Product Safety Commission with greater authority and


discretion in enforcing the consumer product safety laws, and for other purposes		 8/5/2011 8/12/2011 [8/5/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–29, The America Invents Act 9/12/2011 9/16/2011 [9/12/2011] No
P.L. 112–30, The Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011 9/16/2011 9/16/2011 No No
P.L. 112–31, A bill to designate the United States courthouse located at 80 Lafayette Street


in Jefferson City, Missouri, as the Christopher S. Bond United States Courthouse		 9/22/2011 9/23/2011 [9/22/2011] No
P.L. 112–32, The Combating Autism 9/29/2011 9/30/2011 [9/29/2011] No
P.L. 112–33, The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 9/29/2011 9/30/2011 [9/29/2011] No
P.L. 112–34, The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act 9/27/2011 9/30/2011 [9/28/2011] No
P.L. 112–35, The Short‐​Term TANF Extension Act 9/27/2011 9/30/2011 [9/27/2011] No
P.L. 112–36, The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 10/4/2011 10/5/2011 [10/4/2011] No
P.L. 112–37, The Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act of 2011 9/27/2011 10/5/2011 [9/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–38, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1081


Elbel Road in Schertz, Texas, as the “Schertz Veterans Post Office”		 10/6/2011 10/12/2011 [10/6/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–39, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 5014


Gary Avenue in Lubbock, Texas, as the “Sergeant Chris Davis Post Office”		 10/6/2011 10/12/2011 [10/6/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–40, To extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes


10/13/2011 10/21/2011 [10/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–41, The United States‐​Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 10/13/2011 10/21/2011 [10/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–42, The United States‐​Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act


10/13/2011 10/21/2011 [10/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–43, The United States‐​Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act 10/13/2011 10/21/2011 [10/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–44, The United States Parole Commission Extension Act of 2011 10/13/2011 10/21/2011 [10/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–45, To clarify the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to


the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes 		10/31/2011 11/7/2011 10/31/2011 Yes
P.L. 112–46, The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011 10/31/2011 11/7/2011 [10/31/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–47, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 489


Army Drive in Barrigada, Guam, as the “John Pangelinan Gerber Post Office Building”		 10/31/2011 11/7/2011 [10/31/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–48, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 281


East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, as the “First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building”		 10/31/2011 11/7/2011 [10/31/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–49, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 45


Meetinghouse Lane in Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts, as the “Matthew A. Pucino Post Office”		 10/31/2011 11/7/2011 [10/31/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–50, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4354


Pahoa Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the “Cecil L. Heftel Post Office Building”		 10/31/2011 11/7/2011 [10/31/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–51, The Removal Clarification Act of 2011 11/4/2011 11/9/2011 [11/4/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–52, To direct the Secretary of the Interior to allow for prepayment of repayment


contracts between the United States and the Uintah Water Conservancy District		 11/4/2011 11/9/2011 [11/4/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–53, The Veterans’ Compensation Cost‐​of‐​Living Adjustment Act of 2011 11/3/2011 11/9/2011 [11/3/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–54, The Asia‐​Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act of


2011		 11/10/2011 11/12/2011 [11/10/2011] No
P.L. 112–55, The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 11/17/2011 11/18/2011 No No
P.L. 112–56, To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the imposition of 3


percent withholding on certain payments made to vendors by government entities 		11/19/2011 11/21/2011 No No
P.L. 112–57, The Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 11/14/2011 11/21/2011 [11/14/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–58, To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to toll, during active‐​duty


service abroad in the Armed Forces, the periods of time to file a petition and appear for an interview to remove the conditional basis for permanent resident status,


and for other purposes 		11/16/2011 11/23/2011 [11/16/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–59, To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines 11/15/2011 11/23/2011 [11/15/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–60, A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at


462 Washington Street, Woburn Massachusetts, as the “Officer John Maguire Post Office”		 11/17/2011 11/23/2011 [11/17/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–61, The America’s Cup Act of 2011 11/18/2011 11/29/2011 [11/21/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–62, The Appeal Time Clarification Act of 2011 11/18/2011 11/29/2011 [11/18/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–63, The Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 12/2/2011 12/7/2011 [12/2/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–64, The National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act of 2011 12/7/2011 12/13/2011 [12/7/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–65, A bill to revise the Federal charter for the Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc.


to reflect a change in eligibility requirements for membership 		12/8/2011 12/13/2011 [12/8/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–66, A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize the American Legion


under its Federal charter to provide guidance and leadership to the individual departments and posts of the American Legion, and for other purposes 		12/8/2011 12/13/2011 [12/8/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–67, Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2012, and for other


purposes		 12/16/2011 12/16/2011 No No
P.L. 112–68, Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2012, and for other


purposes		 12/17/2011 12/17/2011 No No
P.L. 112–69, The Fort Pulaski National Monument Lease Authorization Act 12/9/2011 12/19/2011 [12/9/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–70, The Box Elder Utah Land Conveyance Act 12/9/2011 12/19/2011 [12/9/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–71, A joint resolution to grant the consent of Congress to an amendment to the


compact between the States of Missouri and Illinois providing that bonds issued by the Bi‐​State Development Agency may mature in not to exceed 40 years 		12/13/2011 12/19/2011 [12/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–72, The Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2011 12/13/2011 12/20/2011 [12/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–73, The Civilian Service Recognition Act of 2011 12/13/2011 12/20/2011 [12/13/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–74, The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 12/21/2011 12/23/2011 [12/21/2011] No
P.L. 112–75, The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reform and


Reauthorization Act of 2011		 12/19/2011 12/23/2011 [12/19/2011] No
P.L. 112–76, The Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act 12/19/2011 12/23/2011 [12/19/2011] No
P.L. 112–77, The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012 12/21/2011 12/23/2011 [12/21/2011] No
P.L. 112–78, The Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 12/23/2011 12/23/2011 No No
P.L. 112–79, The Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act of 2011 12/20/2011 12/23/2011 [12/20/2011] No
P.L. 112–80, A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the


United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research 		12/16/2011 12/23/2011 [12/16/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–81, The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 12/21/2011 12/31/2011 [12/21/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–82, The Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011 12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–83, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 20


Main Street in Little Ferry, New Jersey, as the “Sergeant Matthew J. Fenton Post Office”		 12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–84, To protect the safety of judges by extending the authority of the Judicial


Conference to redact sensitive information contained in their financial disclosure reports, and for other purposes 		12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–85, To designate the property between the United States Federal Courthouse and the


Ed Jones Building located at 109 South Highland Avenue in Jackson, Tennessee, as the “M.D. Anderson Plaza” and to authorize the placement of a


historical/​identification marker on the grounds recognizing the achievements and philanthropy of M.D. Anderson 		12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–86, The Risk‐​Based Security Screening for Members of The Armed Forces Act 12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–87, The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–88, To instruct the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation


to study the impact of insured depository institution failures, and for other purposes 		12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–89, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 45 Bay


Street, Suite 2, in Staten Island, New York, as the “Sergeant Angel Mendez Post Office”		 12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes
P.L. 112–90, The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of


2011		 12/23/2011 1/3/2012 [12/27/2011] Yes

[Brackets indicate a link from White​house​.gov to Thomas legislative database]