August 19, 2015

New Dem Coalition Chairman Ron Kind Praises “Yelp for Government” Agreement

Washington, DC – Today New Democrat Coalition Chairman Ron Kind praised the agreement reached between Yelp and the General Services Administration (GSA) to promote user reviews of government agencies and enable agencies to claim their Yelp pages.

“I am pleased the GSA and Yelp came to an agreement that will harness technological capabilities to hold government agencies more accountable and provide an avenue for users to provide feedback on their experiences,” said Chairman Kind. “This has been a project the New Democrat Coalition and I have been working on for some time, and it is good to see our work has resulted in a positive step towards ensuring that government is responsive to the people it’s meant to serve.”

Until now, the federal government faced unique restrictions on its ability to directly interact with Yelp through actions such as claiming pages. Earlier this year, in a letter sent to GSA , Chairman Kind called for a swift process to facilitate an agreement with Yelp to allow government agencies to use the Yelp platform. “If we want to make government work better, we should make it easier for people to say what’s working – and what isn’t” said the letter.

The letter was part of the Coalition’s larger push for improved government transparency and accountability. The Coalition’s American Prosperity Agenda, released earlier this year, identified Yelp for Government as one of its key priorities to make government more efficient and effective.

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