This week is Sunshine Week, the annual celebration timed to James Madison’s birthday “that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.” Sunshine Week began in Florida in the early 2000s in response to efforts by members of the state legislature to create a plethora of new exemptions to the state’s public records law. It has spread nationally, with some federal agencies hosting Sunshine Week events and the House’s Oversight Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee (and sometimes Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) holding oversight hearings, marking-up legislation, and sending letters. Here’s a list of this week’s events.

Why should we care about government transparency?

It’s not easy to recognize when our political system is transitioning from one era to another, but there are many signs that we are in the middle of that process.

This past week, Senator Mitch McConnell announced he will step down as Republican leader at the end of this Congress and retire from the Senate when his term ends. His nemesis, Democratic leader Harry Reid, retired from the Senate in 2017. In the House of Representatives, all of the “Young Guns” — Reps. McCarthy, Boehner, and Cantor, as well as Rep. McHenry — have left the Capitol, or are about to do so. Their longtime political opponents, Reps. Pelosi, Hoyer, and Clyburn, have recently stepped down from their leadership posts, although several are still influential in the House.