They don't agree on much, but in at least one way the House and Senate are on the same page: They both want to increase military funding next year.

According to a report just released by the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill would reduce federal budget deficits by $197 billion over the next decade.

When Richard, a retired Air Force officer, went to college in 1960, student debt was not something people worried about. Fifty years later, everything has changed.

The 2011 Budget Control Act set the stage for the harsh automatic budget cuts known as sequestration to take place on January 1, 2013. These cuts will go on for a decade unless Congress agrees to stop them. Some initiatives, like the WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, have been cut by more than 20 percent.

The sequester not only cut money allocated to federal programs, but also meant reductions for federal spending at the state and local level.

Nearly every American is intimately connected with the earned benefits Social Security and Medicare – first as a contributor then as a recipient. Nearly 90% of us indicated that we’re in favor of taking strong measures to preserve the long-term stability of both programs.

Kaitlin Devine from the Sunlight Foundations guest posts with an update on the 2013 version of the DATA Act, intended to improve federal spending transparency.

NPP successfully met our May Gift Challenge, thanks to the generosity of our online community!

Guest blogger Anthony Holley reports on the Hack for Western Mass project to reconcile federal spending data in USASpending.gov with numbers reported in the federal budget.

This past weekend ~100 hackers from all over Massachussetts generously donated their time and expertise for the National Day of Civic Hacking event for Western Mass. This inspiring event was one of 95 held across the country.