Happy Sunshine week! Sunshine week is an annual celebration of open government and transparency measures, a free press, access to public information, and the collective work to hold our government accountable to the people. 

Transparency in government means shining a light on unethical behavior, having access to see how our leaders are representing us and spending our tax dollars, and elected officials being responsive to the people – not monied interests or big corporations.

How’d we get here?

It all started in Colorado 53 years ago, when Common Cause worked to get the citizen-sponsored initiative, The Colorado Sunshine Act, on the 1972 ballot. The initiative passed, establishing the first sunshine law in the country, requiring meetings of two or more members of any state public body to be open to the public. 

At the time, then director of Common Cause’s Colorado Project wrote to Common Cause’s founder, John Gardner, that the Sunshine Law, “is perhaps the most significant single act of legislative reform in Colorado’s history.”

Since then, work to shine a light on our government has grown across the country, with Common Cause, elected leaders, and our allies spearheading reforms and implementing good government changes, from our cities and counties all the way to the federal government. 

Why is it important?

The American people deserve a government that is worthy of their trust. Sunshine week is an important reminder of the ongoing fight for open and transparent government reforms, while celebrating the progress that got us here. 

This week — any every week — we recommit ourselves to achieving an open, transparent, and honest democracy that works for everyone.

What are we shining a light on now?

Our fight for transparency continues. At the national level, we are holding power to account with our Fire Elon Musk campaign, which calls for transparency on who is really running our government: our president, or an unelected billionaire? You can read more about our national transparency work here. 

At the local level, all of our state offices fight for a more open and transparent government and for reforms that root out corruption from our democracy every day. To learn more about our work in your state, sign up for updates đây.