Open Government & School Spending
The Oklahoma House of Representatives took a major step today that would require state government and school districts to list expenditures on publicly available websites by Jan. 1, 2011. House Bills 3422 and 3253 passed unanimously and now go to the Senate.
HOUSE BILL 3422 – “Government Accountability and Transparency Act of 2010”
All purchases made with state funds be disclosed on an online database.
Each individual expenditure be listed separately.
Information on the website be searchable.
HOUSE BILL 3253 – “School District Transparency Act”
No later than January 1, 2011, the State Department of Education shall develop and operate a single website accessible by the public. The website shall include itemized expenditures by the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System code designation for each school district in the state. The website shall include search capabilities.
As soon as practicable after January 1, 2011, the website shall also include, but not be limited to, the following information related to each expenditure of funds:
1. Name and principal location of the entity or recipients of the funds, excluding the release of information relating to the place of residence of an individual, release of information prohibited by subsection D of Section 24A.7 of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes or by federal law relating to privacy rights;
2. Amount of funds expended;
3. Type of transaction;
4. Funding or expending entity; and
5. Descriptive purpose of the funding action or expenditure
