Washington
Spending Database Achieved! Bills and Sponsors
S.B. 6387, Senators Stevens, Morton, Sheldon, Hewitt, Carrell, Pflug, Swecker, Schoesler, Roach, and Benton.
Legislative Summary: The Taxpayer Transparency Act calls for the creation of a single, searchable website containing information on how the state is spending the tax dollars and what performance results are achieved for those expenditures.
S.B. 6818, Senators Oemig, Brandland, Tom, Zarelli, Kastama, Weinstein, Kilmer, Keiser and Kohl-Welles.
Legislative Summary: By January 1, 2009, the LEAP Committee is directed to make publicly available a state expenditure web site that contains for the prior fiscal year: (1) state expenditures by fund or account; (2) expenditures by agency, program, or subprogram; (3) state revenues by source; (4) state expenditures by budget object and subobject; and (5) state agency workloads, caseloads, and performance measurements. OFM and the PDC must establish a public database that links campaign contribution data with data on state agency purchasing contracts.
Status
Governor Gregoire signed S.B. 6818 into law April 1st, 2008.
S.B. 6387: February 7 - Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means
S.B. 6818: February 16 - Third reading, passed; yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1.
February 19 - First reading, referred to Appropriations.
The Washington state legislature convenes on January 14, 2008 and is expected to adjourn on March 13, 2008.
What We’re Doing
Letter endorsing S.B. 6387 from National Taxpayers Union and Council for Citizens Against Government Waste.
News
Governor signs spending transparency legislation into law! Read more here.
Click here to read an article in The Herald on spending transparency.
Dino Rossi calls on Christine Gregoire to create a public expenditure database. Read more here.
Senator introduces legislation to create an online spending database. Find out more!
State Auditor, Attorney General support spending database. Learn more by clicking here.
Commentary by Sen. Tom Coburn and Jason Mercier, "Budget database would help residents track funds, accountability."
Commentary by Jason Mercier, "Public Deserves Budget Transparency."
Commentary by Jason Mercier, "Sunshine Week Series: Let the sun shine on state finances."
Washington Policy Center releases their study on spending transparency. Read it by clicking here.
What You’ve Got Already
Contracts: Advanced Contract Search
http://www.ga.wa.gov/index.html
The Department of General Administration furnishes details on contracts awarded by the state. Users can look up current and recently expired (within the last 90 days) contracts by keyword and contract number. Results provide current contract information along with detailed contract history (which can include performance reviews, pricing information, and renewal discussions).
Take Action
Click here to send a petition to your legislators in support of a Washington state spending database.