Dear Legislator:
On behalf of the National TaxpayersUnion’s more than 17,000 members in Pennsylvania, I urge you to support HouseBill 15, which would establish a publicly accessible website maintained by theTreasurer that details state spending, including all expenditures by theexecutive, legislative, and judicial branches. Through more transparency,Pennsylvania can improve accountability and find ways to save taxpayer dollarsin a time of tight budgets.
Currently, only limited informationabout state spending is available to taxpayers. Moreover, the informationresides in different locations, is incomplete, and can be time-consuming toobtain. House Bill 15 would centralize state spending information, making itmore easily accessible to citizens. Transparency will improve accountability,oversight, and civic engagement by enabling Pennsylvania residents to evaluateHarrisburg’s spending decisions.
Additionally, transparency can helpstates find significant savings in their budgets. More transparency allowstaxpayers to explore the performance of government programs and uncoverwasteful, ineffective uses of taxpayer dollars. Greater transparency willenable the Commonwealth to get better deals in contracting because vendors canmore effectively compete for bids and offer better prices. A transparencyinitiative in Texas yielded almost $5 million in savings, while Missouri’stransparency website led early on to the reevaluation of $1.5 million inspending.
At least 26 state legislatures havejoined the U.S. Congress in passing laws to create spending transparencywebsites. In at least another 11 states, governors have created such websitesthrough executive order. It is time for Pennsylvania to provide taxpayers withthe information they need and deserve. Therefore, I urge you to support HouseBill 15 and put state spending information online.
Sincerely,
John Stephenson
State Government Affairs Manager
CC: Governor Tom Corbett