States with spending online

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State Information
State budgets Public employee salaries Public pensions States with spending online Collaborative transparency projects Model transparency legislation State Budget Solutions

The movement pushing for state governments to post their spending online achieved its first major victory when President George W. Bush signed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590) into law in September 2006. Sponsored by Senators Tom Coburn and Barack Obama, this bipartisan legislation required that federal grant and contract funding data appear online in a searchable database.

On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama, along with Senators Carper, Coburn and McCain, introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008. The legislation would have built on the Federal Funding Accountability act by requiring more information to be posted on USAspending.gov and by making the information more "readable," but it never became law.

For the new administration, OMB Watch has produced suggestions to increase transparency and government openness. Read the report by clicking here. (dead link) President Obama has stated he hopes to oversee the "most open, honest, and accountable government ever."

The U.S. Census compiles a comprehensive annual survey of state spending information.

Spending information online

Since S. 2590 passed, states have increasingly developed and updated websites in order to disclose information about state government spending. The state websites vary in how much information they offer. Some state websites are comprehensive, while others are limited.

In some cases, a state may not have a well-developed transparency website, but an independent government watchdog within the state will have such a website. In the case of Maine, for example, the state's website offers limited spending information, but a website (MaineOpenGov.org) run by a government watchdog within the state, Maine Heritage Policy Center, offers lots of information.

Below, a table evaluates the comprehensiveness of various state and, in some cases, privately run websites that offer spending information.

Criteria for evaluating spending databases

State Database	Searchability	Grants	Contracts	Line Item Expenditures	Dept/Agency Budgets	Public Employee Salary
Alabama	Y	Y	Y	Y
Alaska	N	N	N	N	N	P
Arkansas	Y	P	P	N	Y	P
California	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y
Colorado	P	Y	Y	Y	Y	P
Connecticut	P	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Delaware	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Florida	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y
Georgia	P	N	N	N	Y	Y
Hawaii	Y	N	Y	N	N	N
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana		N
Kansas	Y	Y	Y	Y		P
Kentucky	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Louisiana	Y	N		Y	Y	N
Maine		N	N		N	N
Massachusetts		N		N
Maryland		P	Y	N		N
Minnesota	Y	N	Y	N		P
Mississippi	Y		Y	Y	Y	P
Missouri		N
Montana	N	N	N	N	N	N
Nebraska	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Nevada		N	N			N
New Hampshire	Y	Y	P	Y	Y	Y
New Jersey	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y
New York	Y	N	Y	N		N
New York	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N
New Mexico	N	N	N	N	N	N
North Carolina	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N
North Dakota	N	N				N
Oklahoma	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Ohio			N		Y
Oregon		N			Y	P
Pennsylvania	N	N	N	N	N	N
Rhode Island	Y			P	Y	N
South Carolina	Y	N	Y		N	N
South Dakota	P	Y	Y		Y	Y
Tennessee	P	N	Y	N	Y	Y
Texas: Where the Money Goes	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Utah	Y	N		Y	Y	P
West Virginia			N			N
Vermont	N	N	N	N	N	N
Virginia	Y	N	N		Y	N
Wisconsin	N	N		N	N	N
Washington		N	N
Wyoming		N	N	N		N

See also

• List of transparency websites
• Cost of state transparency websites

External links

• Bills would boost spending transparency, Stateline.org, March 6, 2009
• "Bill Gates Says More State Budget Transparency Needed: Video," Washington Post, June 9, 2010
• Government Spending: State by State Breakdown, Shrinkage is Good, 2009
• Budget Transparency Advances Across Country, Progressive States Network