State spending to go online
by Dara Kam | March 11th, 2009The Florida Senate is in the process of making state spending more transparent with the future launch of a website detailing the budget.
The site, which will cost about $500,000 to create and another $75,000 a year to maintain, will be up and running in about four months, Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said today at a press conference announcing the “Transparency Florida” initiative.
Alexander said the money is a good investment because the site will allow the public as well as public officials to drill down into the budget and see what taxpayers are footing the bill for down to state workers’ cell phones and agency cable television charges.
“I’d argue that we’ll get many, many fold savings” from the site, said Alexander, R-Lake Wales.
The revelations about agency spending, including salaries of workers without identifying them by name, may create some alarm in the buildings in the Capitol complex.
“Most folks are doing a great job and they ought to be hopeful that the good job they’re doing will be shown. For those that aren’t, I don’t worry about too much,” Alexander said.
Sen. Jeremy Ring said that lawmakers and agency staff should welcome the openness.
“The only people who would really be opposed to this sort of website, this sort of transparency are people who would be afraid that other people would find out what they actually put in the budget,” said Ring, D-Margate.
Tags: state budget, State Senate
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March 11th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Is the Legislature going to post their spend? or keep the citizens of Florida in the dark as they have for years? A transparent FL, when the entire Gov’t participates and not just the Exec Agencies!