Wisconsin senator wants transparency website

Wisconsin leaders are on the path to providing more transparency. Senator Mary Lazich recently wrote an op ed lamenting the fact that Wisconsin does not have a transparency website.

The senator notes that the private sector is able to give consumers information at the touch of a button. Governments should be able to do the same.

Lazich notes three critical benefits that transparency websites offer:

*Online databases can pinpoint corruption,
*Transparency efforts boost citizen confidence in government, and
*Open government encourages fiscal responsibility.

And transparency websites come in at a fair price. Government transparency websites range from costs of several thousand dollars to $1 million. In return, states can save millions. Texas, for example, has reported $4.8 million saved thanks to the state’s transparency portal.

The senator also touches on two points we at Sunshine Review think are key to transparency website. First, she notes that “Design is critical,” which it is. (The idea of making websites that are clear and intuitive is called “usability.”) If you think about it, a transparency website with a confusing design that prevents you from finding information may as well not have any information.

She also thinks that local governments, cities, counties, and school districts, should also be concerned about how they disclose information online. Lazich doesn’t think that transparency is merely a state issue. Every level of government should be communicating with its citizens through information disclosure.

There is one important thing worth noting: Wisconsin isn’t that bad. Here’s the inspiration behind the senator’s commitment to transparency:

Since Wisconsin is one of 14 states that fail to have a transparency website, the U.S. PIRG April 2010 report gives Wisconsin an F grade in providing online access to government spending data.

The U.S. PIRG ratings are on all of our state website ratings. How does its rating of “F” compare to Sunshine Review’s assessment of Wisconsin’s state website? We give Wisconsin an “A.” Wisconsin does not currently have a transparency portal, but it does a decent job of disclosing key information. While a better, more encompassing transparency website would do wonders for Wisconsin, as the senator notes, it is still important to acknowledge when a state does a decent job of being transparent to its citizens.

U.S. PIRG on transparency: more states should do more of it

Along the same lines of the policy brief on Florida’s transparency I blogged about yesterday, the U.S. PIRG has come out with an interesting study on states providing online access to government data, concluding that there are no downsides to government providing data online in a searchable format, there are only benefits.

In Following the Money: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, the authors aim to provide a benchmark for comparing states in their individual road to providing government data online. They start by highlighting several key points about transparency in general. Among these:
*The movement toward Transparency 2.0 is broad, bipartisan, and popular.
*Transparency 2.0 saves money and bolsters citizen confidence.
*Even in leading states, there are many opportunities to improve transparency Web sites.

What does the study propose? Simply put, more—more information, more usability. The study outlines three criteria for Transparency 2.0. First, the portal a government posts its data on should be comprehensive, including all spending data for all levels of government. Second, it should provide all of this information in one site, not make you jump around to partner sites. Lastly, the information and search functions must be user-friendly, allowing citizens to enter a single query or browse common-sense categories.

The study also highlights innovative governments that get creative. San Francisco, for example, recently launched DataSF, a searchable Web site that provides data on a variety of city issues and allows users to comment on and rank the datasets with the hope of improving government performance in the future. The Web site also provides mobile phone apps that integrate the data and provide residents with useful tools. We at Sunshine Review love that sort of

So why should governments embrace transparency, according to U.S. PIRG? Transparency websites can help reduce fraud and misspending. The promise of posting information online makes shady officials know they have citizens to answer to and reminds fiscally irresponsible officials to think twice about a line item. Transparency portals are “excellent tools of civic engagement.” They encourage citizens to work together with government and remove that distance between voter and candidate. The study’s authors note in another section that without accurate and up-to-date data, citizens lack the tools to interact with their elected officials. The lines of communication only flow one way. And for all these benefits and the others detailed in Following the Money, the cost of a web transparency portal isn’t much. Another benefit of transparency: it’s cheap.

Basically, every facet of transparency is a good, inexpensive, money-and-legitimacy saving consequence. It’s like music to our ears. If governments want to ensure a happy citizenry that is engaged, it should collaborate with us by following the spirit and ideas outlined in Following the Money.