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When I heard about this contest, I asked myself, "Who would I know with API coding skills and a passion for government transparency -- and who likes winning money?" Duh: the NTEN community!  Here's the lowdown:

Apps for America will award developers for the best applications, based on data from Sunlight and its partners, that make Congress more accountable, interactive, and transparent.

> Learn more about the contest at http://sunlightlabs.com/contest/

The grand prize is $15,000. There's also a second place award of $5,000, four third place awards of $1,000 each, and 10 honorable mentions at $100 each.

The deadline to submit is March 31st; winners will be announced April 7th.

Entries must be applications that use a host of government information APIs or datasets, including the Sunlight Labs API, OpenSecrets.org API, the FollowtheMoney.org API, the Capitol Words API, and other Sunlight APIs and datasets.

They encourage you to use Sunlight's code libraries, which the Labs recently open sourced.

You can find more information at http://sunlightlabs.com/appsforamerica/.

Don't worry if you're not a coder geek. You might not know your way around an API, but if you love the idea of making government information more accessible, there are other ways to get involved with Sunlight Labs. Check the Labs' wiki for ideas.