Capitol Comments

The state of Washington was the first state to offer online voter registration in 2008.  The state's website features an online portal called MyVote, which helped get the state's residents registered online.   Washington is now, in 2012, taking that functionality to the next level by incorporating the same online registration functionality into Facebook, using the site's social capital to get more voters registered.

House Rep. Jeffrey Thompson of Louisiana's District 8 recently sponsored House Bill 249, the first bill in the nation to require sex offenders and child predators to identify themselves as such on any social networking site they use.

An important rule of thumb when communicating online is that nothing is ever truly private.  Anything you post, such as private message or emails, can be screen-captured and posted online as images.  Anything you put online could live forever even if you try to delete it.  The Anthony Weiner case is a classic example. 

The Presidents' Forum and The Council of State Governments' National Center for Interstate Compacts has released a working draft of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). You can find it on the updated NCIC website here along with a PowerPoint presentation discussing the compact.

The compact is the result of a series of both teleconferenced and in-person meetings.  The in-person meetings have been as follows:...

Maryland is the first state to have both houses pass a bill that prohibits employers from requesting access to employees' or potential employees' private social media accounts.  The bills, SB 433 and HB 964, are a response to the uproar caused by employers asking job applicants for the usersnames and/or passwords to their private Facebook and other social media accounts.  Maryland is the first state to have a such legsilation pass both houses, but state legislators in California, Illinois and Michigan are also acting on the issue.  Governor O'Malley has not yet signed the bill, which would, if signed, go into effect on October 1, 2012.