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October 1, 2008 by
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According to , the official blog, governor recently placed the state’s budget and expenditures online on a new website. According to the site, citizens can
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Sounds great… but here’s an interesting little background nugget from NTU…
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Face it- transparency is a great issue for the predictable crowd of taxpayers, ethics gurus, citizen journalists, government wonks, and anyone wanting to do business with the state… but it’s also a political goldmine. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do, easy to accomplish, somewhat insulates candidates on ethics issues (whether they need it or not), and it pays political dividends for years to come.
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September 15, 2008 by
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Sometimes when an idea is good once, it’s better twice- which is the case with Nevada’s new transparency websites.
launched this week, which includes searchable county and state financial data such as purchasing contracts, budgets, government employee salaries, lobbying expenses. The site also includes some departmental expenditures (education, transportation, and Health and Human Services), and a blog.
hopped on the transparency bandwagon, forcing transparency by last March. should be up and running soon, and will include searchable budgets, expenditures, contracts, and grants. If you go to the site now, you are greeted with links to miscellaneous financial data and reports.
These two websites will hopefully mean double trouble for the state’s tax-eaters and .
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August 27, 2008 by
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‘s Secretary of State, Karen Handel, announced the launch of the this week. Although it currently only hosts the Georgia Secretary of State’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget, Secretary Handel’s campaign and personal finance disclosures, and the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office Ethics Policy, Secretary Handel promises to include expenditures very soon. Let’s hope they will be in a searchable database format.
Read more about the site at , , and .
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August 25, 2008 by
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As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Such is the case in , which has some of the most lax ethics laws in the nation. is a painstakingly crafted piece of legislation that took eons of negotiation and compromise to pass both houses of the IL legislature. Now, Governor Rod Blagojevich plans to re-write the legislation using his amendatory veto powers. Most people believe this will result in the and zero legislation being passed. After countless news stories of ethical lapses from government officials, some elected officials are not letting the legislation go down without a fight.
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) weighed in with a last Friday with a strong piece urging the governor’s signature on the legislation.
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Rep. John Fritchey (D) blogged this of Blagojevich’s actions:
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If you doubt IL is in need of ethics legislation, here is a small sample of just today’s headlines:
and
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August 22, 2008 by
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is serving as the model of state transparency efforts. According to a guest column on , Texas has achieved the following benchmarks in the fight for transparency:
- posting state budget information online in a user-friendly format
– streaming video of live House and Senate proceedings
– passage of multiple bills related to transparency and accountability
– Gov. Rick Perry signed an Executive Order in 2005 requiring school districts to post their check registers online if they failed to meet certain spending criteria
– Texas legislators, working in tandem with the governor’s office, enacted the “Truth-in-Taxation” bill in 2005
– Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has converted the state’s massive budget into a user-friendly package with the introduction of “Where the Money Goes,” which saved more than $2.3 million in her agency alone
– The a new Web site, , which supplements “Where the Money Goes” with detailed budget analysis of state expenditures over the past 20 years, links to the online check registers of more than 150 Texas school districts, and lists of counties and cities that have posted their budget information online and more
Aiding the above efforts is a new kid on the block, . According to its website, Texas Watchdog is a news Web site and training center that scrutinizes the actions of government agencies, bureaucracies and politicians in Texas. It is an independent, nonpartisan entity founded on the belief that our American democracy depends on transparency in government.
All of this good government in a huge state like Texas just tells me one thing… 49 states have some ‘splainin’ to do.
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August 21, 2008 by
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Although has become Ground Zero for , there is still a long way to go until state and local governments can really develop a reputation for clean and efficient government. After reading local LA news, I have a couple of suggestions for any public servant’s transparency “to do” list.
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Example you should not follow: Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price has recently found himself in (again) when an found he had misused his city credit card to purchase private vacations and other personal expenditures. Some city councilmen commented publicly that they had no knowledge these expenditures were taking place. My solution? Put all expenditures online for journalists, taxpayers, and even the city council members to scrutinize and take a proactive stance against corruption and sneaky spending with public funds.
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Example you should not follow: Robert Morgan of TheTownTalk.com points out in a that government employees often do not understand basic open records law, and may choose to delay the delivery of requested documents in error. Mr. Morgan names names in his article, citing examples from Rapides Parish Schools and the city of Alexandria.
I will continue to watch Louisiana’s media and for updates on how they are finding their way to the land of milk, honey, and open government.
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July 29, 2008 by
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The Shreveport Times printed an op-ed from Ernest LeBlanc Jr., director of the , applauding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for his work on new transparency legislation. The piece also did a good job spelling out why transparency is important to all citizens.
From the :
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LeBlanc also mentions that citizens that know and understand government can have more influence in policymaking. More influence for less of my tax dollars? That’s change all taxpayers can believe in.
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July 24, 2008 by
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During most state’s budgeting time, politicians, good government organizations, the press, and interest groups often toss around huge numbers regarding the ever-increasing costs of health care services. Most of the time, taxpayers have no idea where these numbers come from, who these health care providers are, and how much each is actually paid for their services.
South Carolina is attempting to make that data accessible to the public through a transparency initiative that includes placing state Medicaid payments online.
reports:
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The database can be viewed , through the SC DHHS website.
Gov. Sanford, a potential VP candidate for John McCain, is on the right track on this issue.
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July 19, 2008 by
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The yesterday questioned the Reform Michigan Now ballot committee for refusing to come forward with the groups sponsoring its proposition. A on a union website suggests who these backers are- the Michigan Dem Party and organized labor. A spokesman for Reform Michigan Now stated its financial backers would be revealed in August, or only when legally required.
From the :
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See more on Reform Michigan Now and .
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July 2, 2008 by
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The (ALEC) recently gave thumbs up to the ‘s model language aimed at opening up government labor negotiations to the public. The language would expand existing Open Meetings laws to include contract negotiations that include taxpayer dollars.
From ALEC’s :
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More transparency for tax dollars- who can be against that?
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