A Treasure Trove of Connecticut State Budget Information

The Yankee Institute, a libertarian Connecticut think tank, launched the website www.ctsunlight.org, which allows users to easily navigate through the state budget. The website was built with data from a massive FOI request to the state comptroller, and it includes information on individuals' salaries, pension payments, the amounts of checks to vendors, and more.

Read more here.

La. governor's schedule still secret under new law

A Louisiana bill passed last week opens up some of the governor's documents previously exempted but still keeps most information under wraps, the AP reported. Sen. Robert Adley of Benton said the legislation doesn't improve access to the governor's records but takes the state "from sunshine to moonshine." The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and The Advocate of Baton Rouge editorialized against the bill which shields for six months some budget-related documents that were considered public record under the current law. The signed bill will allow some documents concerning the governor's travel to be public but will keep his schedule secret.

A bill that opens some but not all of the governor’s records to public scrutiny won final legislative passage in the Senate last week after weeks of debate and negotiations in which Gov. Bobby Jindal’s allies deflected efforts to make his schedule public or preserve his documents for the archives.

The bill, S.B. 278, will keep out of the public eye any governor’s office documents related to the “deliberative process” or intra-office communications among his top staffers. And it puts budgetary advice that state departments submit to the governor off-limits for six months.

Jindal pushed the bill as an alternative to others aimed at lifting a decades-old exemption the governor’s office has enjoyed from the state open-records law. The Senate voted 28-8 on June 24 to approve the bill that had already passed the House. The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House signed the measure June 25.

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School travel expenses raise questions in Mich.

FOI at Work!
A Flint Journal review of Genesee County school system's receipts and expense records reveal that administrators and educators are staying at three- and four-star hotels while attending conferences in America's vacation meccas. An average of $16,000 was spent by the school districts in the past two and a half years to send school board members and superintendents on trips. Expenses charged to the district include $420 per night hotel accommodations and a $61 steak dinner (for one).

When local school leaders hit up resort hotels and dine in pricey restaurants, the tab adds up quickly -- and all at the taxpayers' expense.

A Flint Journal review of more than a thousand pages of receipts, check orders and expense forms revealed that the top brass in Genesee County's 22 public school districts have spent at least $365,000 on travel since July 2006.

For some districts, that figure includes airfare to vacation hot spots, fancy meals, car rentals and at least one alcoholic drink. It also includes board mileage reimbursement and fees for board certification classes at in-state conferences.

More here.

Maine's budget Web site may exclude employees' names

Maine legislators are considering a bill that would block salary information on individual state, county, municipal, school and university employees from MainOpenGov.org, the AP reported.

A bill before Maine lawmakers would block the names of people listed on a Web site that enables the public to search the state budget by category or employee.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Lisa Marrache, a Waterville Democrat, is sponsoring a bill that would limit information on the Maine Heritage Policy Center's Web site, MaineOpenGov.org. The Web site won praise by the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, which promotes open government.

Marrache's bill says salary information relating to an individual state, county, municipal, school, University of Maine System, Maine Community College System or Maine Maritime Academy employee would be confidential. Marrache told the Kennebec Journal she's gotten complaints from several state employees about the Web site.

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Fla. launches state-spending Web sites

The state of Florida launched two new Web sites, which track government-agency spending by contractor name, The News-Press (Fla.) reported. A bill in the Legislature could expand this site to include the spending of local governments and legislative leaders. The next step of this budget tracking tool will include the ability to track every check the state writes.

Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink Tuesday unveiled what they described as the next generation of Florida's legendary open-government laws, new Web sites that track state spending.

The sites (flgov.com/sunshinespending and myfloridacfo.com/sunshinespending) track government-agency spending by contractor name."

Government in the sunshine is more important than ever, especially during these challenging economic times," Crist said.

More here.

Fla. legislator introduces budget openness act

Florida Rep. Dorothy Hukill says her proposed "Track Your Taxes -- Florida Budget Openness Act" would be "the strongest of its kind in the nation."

State Representative Dorothy L. Hukill (R-Port Orange) filed legislation to open up government spending to all Floridians. The “Track Your Taxes – Florida Budget Openness Act” will allow citizens to use the Internet to track their state and local tax dollars. This far-reaching legislation will be the strongest of its kind in the nation and reflects Florida’s continued commitment to open government.

The bill, House Bill 971, provides access to every dollar raised and spent by state and local governments through a single searchable website, accessible on www.MyFlorida.com. The website would provide information on the date, source, and purpose of each expenditure and revenue, and would allow citizens to view online any government contract in which taxpayer dollars are spent.

“In these tough economic times, it’s more important than ever for government to be open and accessible to the taxpayers. People need to know that their hard-earned money is being spent wisely,” Hukill said. “By using the Internet to shine a light on government spending, we can ensure that government always remains accountable to the citizens it represents.”

The bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Senator Ronda Storms (R-Valrico).