Utah governor criticizes trust lands bonuses

By JENNIFER DOBNER (AP) – Oct 22, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday said his office will review a decision by the state's school trust lands administration to pay its top executives double bonuses in June, possibly skirting a legislative ban on bonus payments in the current budget year.

"It does cause significant concern," Herbert told reporters during his monthly news conference. "Particularly at time when the economy is struggling. We're talking in terms of layoffs in the private sector, in the public sector ... it's just not good form."

The School Trust Lands Administration — or SITLA — manages a checkerboard of 3.4 million acres of trust lands granted at Utah statehood. It leases and sells some of the land for development to raise money for public schools.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers eliminated ongoing funding for bonuses while drafting the budget for the 2010 fiscal year. In addition, lawmakers specifically asked SITLA to seek approval for future bonuses.

On Wednesday, it was learned that six SITLA executives were twice paid bonuses totaling $294,000 during the fiscal year that ended June 30. SITLA Director Kevin Carter's share of the compensation was $71,000.

Payroll records on Utah's transparency Web site show the payments were made in June. SITLA records, however, dispute the accounting and show payments in August 2008 and June 2009.

SITLA board chairman John Ferry said he welcomes an inquiry from Herbert's office or state lawmakers.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of," Ferry said Thursday. "I can understand at first glance, why there is a question. But don't jump to conclusions, first come and talk to the people who know what's going on."

According to Ferry, SITLA historically awards performance bonuses in the first quarter of the fiscal year for objectives met during the previous year. For example, a bonus in 2009 would typically be for work in 2008.

But when a legislative mandate barred bonus payments in 2010, SITLA's board opted to award top staff bonuses in June for the work done the same year. That allowed the board to meet its obligation to staff without running afoul of the Legislature, Ferry said.

"We had an agreement with the director and the associate directors," he said. "We agonized over what we should do and in the end, we decided we were going to stand by our word."

Ferry said the board has eliminated performance bonuses for the 2010 and 2011 budget years.

The issue of bonuses was raised Wednesday on Capitol Hill during a hearing to appoint a new person to SITLA'S board. It launched a volley of commentary from lawmakers, including House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, who said he was baffled by the school trust administration's decision.

"They are supposed to be managing state resources in the best interest of school children," Clark said. "To have them accelerate the payment by two months to avoid our policy direction is inexcusable."

Ferry said he believed some state lawmakers had been told about the early payments decision months ago.

"Some people say we thumbed our noses at the Legislature," he said. "We did not."

In addition to Carter's $71,000, bonus payments to other SITLA staff included: $52,360 to John Andrews, associate director and chief legal counsel; $46,660 to LaVonne Garrison, associate director of oil and gas; $43,660 to Tom Faddies, associate director of mining; $43,660 to Kim Christy, associate director of surface; and $36,660 to Doug Buchi, associate director of planning and development.

Utah takes 'less is more' approach to stimulus reports

Utah's CIO is using existing systems to report ARRA spending, instead of investing in "gee-whiz software."

By Julia King

November 2, 2009 06:00 AM ET Computerworld - Presented with the reporting requirements of the economic stimulus program, Utah CIO Steve Fletcher recalls asking himself, "Do we really want to invest in a lot of gee-whiz software to do this?"

The answer was, and remains, a resounding no.

Instead, Fletcher and other Utah officials decided to build on a statewide spending transparency program and Web site already under development. That program, like the state's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act tracking and reporting tools, capitalizes on a centralized accounting system overseen by a centralized IT organization, which Fletcher says has made all the difference.

Four years ago, all IT services -- which were previously located in individual agencies -- were brought under a single statewide organization with one CIO. "Now we partner with the agencies to provide IT services," Fletcher says. "We have a single accounting system, a single IT organization, and we understand what the agencies' businesses are. It has helped us a lot to turn on a dime."

Earlier this year, Utah rolled out a state transparency Web site that includes every single transaction made by the state.

"You can search it, download it to a spreadsheet, sort it in different ways -- by account code, by organization and by individual," Fletcher says.

Rather than buying and implementing a separate software package for ARRA reporting and creating a separate ARRA Web site, Fletcher's team flagged ARRA-related expenditures in the state's existing central accounting system so they could be tracked and reported out as a separate entity on the state's original Web site.

"We decided not to really go huge on a [separate ARRA] Web site, but basically to transfer information and integrate it [on the state Web site] so it will be visually useful as well as functionally compliant," Fletcher explains.

There's still one hole: Under a federal requirement, the states also must report ARRA spending of "sub-recipients," like school districts and health care organizations, even when those sub-recipients received the money directly from the federal government.

"One of the problems with the way [some] funding is done is we have no clue about it, because the money doesn't go through the state. But we are still required to report on it," Fletcher says. "Any money that goes into the state has to be reported to the state, even though we have no [direct] knowledge of it."

So, how is the state coping with this requirement? "We have to coordinate with all of those entities the best we can," Fletcher says. "We have to reach out for reporting, and that remains a challenge."

NASCIO Recommends State Data Transparency Sites

NASCIO Recommends State Data Transparency Sites

NASCIO.org | 09.30.09
URL: http://www.nascio.org/newsroom/pressrelease.cfm?id=46


(LEXINGTON, KY) - The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is pleased to announce the release of its recommendation, "A Call to Action for State Government - Guidance for Opening the Doors to State Data".

NASCIO has published this report as initial guidance and recommendations to help state governments get started with data transparency portals. This guidance presents the value proposition along with principles and guidance on how states should move forward. This report is available at:www.nascio.org/publications.

"State government has already made much of its data public. We're providing guidance on how to make this data more accessible and available through a single state data portal," said Oregon CIO Dugan Petty, Co-Chair of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture & Governance Committee. "We're encouraging state governments to pursue the democratization of state data by creating a formal initiative that includes the creation of a single portal. In July we published a recommendation to state CIOs to adopt a common domain naming standard. This latest recommendation continues to build on our vision for the democratization of state data. These recommendations support of the Obama administration's objective for open government. That objective is enabled at the state level by creating a single place to look for state data. Citizens shouldn't be expected to know what agency is responsible for creating publicly available data."

"We're continuing the work of a special sub committee on data transparency," said Steve Fletcher, CIO for the state of Utah. Steve Fletcher is Vice President of NASCIO and also Co-Chair of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture & Governance Committee. "The main outcome sought is to make data available to the public through a single portal. Further, this is data in its most elemental form - unabridged, unsummarized - which allows secondary use and repurposing. We're making recommendations with regard to principles and how to proceed. We're also recommending state government employ a common metadata model which is based on the federal data.gov metadata model. We'd like to see a common approach across all states and more state data sites featured on the federal data.gov site. We're looking forward to seeing what the public does with this data."

NASCIO is the premier network and resource for state CIOs and a leading advocate for technology policy at all levels of government. NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information technology executives from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia. The primary state government members are senior officials who have executive level and statewide responsibility for information technology leadership. State officials who are involved in agency level information technology management may participate as state members. Representatives from other public sector and non-profit organizations may also participate as associate members. Private sector firms may join as corporate members and participate in the Corporate Leadership Council. For more information about NASCIO visit www.nascio.org.

KSL - State Web site tracking stimulus funds

State Web site tracking stimulus funds

September 28th, 2009 @ 5:08pm

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah has a new Web site to track how federal stimulus money is being spent in the state.

The site recovery.utah.gov lists the state agencies that are getting stimulus funds and for what programs. The state will also list how the agencies are using the federal money and what parts of Utah are benefiting.

Gov. Gary Herbert says the state wants to remain accountable for how taxpayer money is being spent. Anybody who wants to know where the money is coming from and going can log on and see.

The state has also been logging stimulus fund transactions on the site transparent.utah.gov since last year.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Salt Lake Tribune - State overhauls its stimulus tracking Web site

State overhauls its stimulus tracking Web site

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 09/24/2009 07:03:19 PM MDT

The state has overhauled its Web site www.recovery.utah.gov to make it easier for the public to track how a projected $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money is being spent.

"Utah is committed to accountable, responsible and transparent use of taxpayer dollars, whether they are collected at the local, state or federal level," Gov. Gary Herbert said in a statement. "Today's re-launch of the recovery Web site raises the bar yet again for government transparency in Utah."

The site features a mapping program, that lets users drill down to see stimulus projects in their communities, a breakdown of spending by category -- education, transportation, energy, environment and so forth -- and has short articles about selected projects.

Information on the map is updated monthly.

The best kind of government snooping - NFIB article

The best kind of government snooping

At NFIB/Utah’s Small Business Conference on Sept. 8, one speaker in particular struck a cord with small business owners over a unique accomplishment of his that allows for greater government snooping—the best kind.

State Sen. Wayne Niederhauser presented the Transparency in Utah Government Web site http://www.utah.gov/transparency/index.html at the conference. Long before winning elective office, Sen. Niederhauser saw the need to better monitor how tax dollars were spent by state government. He led the passage of law that now requires the state to provide all expenditure and revenue data beginning as of Fiscal Year 2009.

By next year, higher education institutions, school districts and charter schools will have to provide the same information. Small business owners wondering if their enterprises could provide services to the state of Utah for less money now have a valuable tool to use, thanks to this new Web site.

Make sure you follow through all the extensions until you are able to view the transaction receipt amount. If you have any concerns about the transaction, make sure you click on the email link to the state of Utah.

Sen. Wayne Niederhauser speaks to NFIB members about new Web site.

KSL Report - Utah lawmakers reimbursed for $160,000 in meals

Utah lawmakers reimbursed for $160,000 in meals
August 30th, 2009 @ 1:20pm
By BROCK VERGAKIS, AP writer

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's 104 part-time lawmakers and their aides were reimbursed for more than $160,000 in meals over the past year, including many they never paid for.

An Associated Press review of legislative expenses found on transparent.utah.gov shows that the 29 member Senate was responsible for more than half of all meal reimbursements at $85,974, or an average of $2,964.62 per senator. The 75 member House's meal reimbursements totaled $74,248, or an average of $989.97 per representative.

The reimbursement totals include a handful of meals paid for by legislative staff.

The meal reimbursements came at a time legislators slashed jobs and eliminated programs as they trimmed the state budget by about $1 billion to accommodate declining revenues during one of the worst economic downturns in state history.

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said he couldn't comment on the expenditures until he's had time to examine them. Messages left with House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, were not immediately returned.

Citing budget pressures, Clark established a new travel policy for representatives this spring that limited lawmakers to spending $1,500 when they traveled out-of-state for national conferences, including hotel, travel registration and meals.

The Senate also cut back on out-of-state travel expenses by limiting the number of trips lawmakers could take.

In the past year, the Senate's out-of-state meal reimbursement totals were $6,704, and the House's was $4,606.

State lawmakers give themselves $54 to spend on meals every day they're called to work at the Capitol, including weekends during their annual 45-day session in which they stay home. They are also allowed to claim the per diem during special sessions and other scheduled meetings throughout the year, in addition to travel expenses.

No meal receipts are required to be reimbursed at the per diem rate. Because the per diem rate is tied to the federal rate, it will automatically go up to $61 a day on Oct. 1.

In comparison, state employees receive a maximum of $36 per day to spend on meals while traveling on official business in the state and must provide receipts before being reimbursed. There was no increase in the reimbursement rate this year.

For lawmakers who buy their own meals, it's often difficult to spend more than $10 on a meal at the Capitol cafeteria where many state workers, legislative staffers and interns buy breakfast and lunch.

But while the Legislature is in session, lawmakers rarely have to pick up the tab for their own meals.

Lobbyists spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year sponsoring working lunches and receptions at the Capitol and taking legislators to expensive restaurants, enabling legislators to pocket the per diem money.

Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, said most lawmakers -- himself included -- don't feel guilty pocketing the per diem money because they only receive $130 a day salary for being lawmakers, and that is only paid when they're called into approved meetings. That amount is being reduced to $117 a day this year after lawmakers said they wanted to share in the budget pain with state agencies.

Hansen contends state legislators should be paid an annual salary. He says that would eliminate the need for per diem payments and allow legislators to turn down free meals from lobbyists.

"If we were to go to a salary, we would then be on the dime of the taxpayers and then all gifts should be banned because we would be on the taxpayer's money around the clock," Hansen said.

He said if legislators were paid salaries like state employees, it would be reasonable to only reimburse lawmakers for the meals they ate and at the same rate state workers can receive.

"As it is now, a lot of legislators feel we're not fairly compensated year round and that per diem rate is OK to be able to take," he said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

GCN names Utah Transparency in 2009 Agency IT Award winners

Aug 20, 2009

Government Computer News has named the 10 government agency information technology projects to be recognized as outstanding IT initiatives for 2009.

"The annual GCN Awards honor agencies for their outstanding achievements in the application of information technology to advance their work and the services they provide” said GCN Editor-in-Chief Wyatt Kash. “The 2009 agency winners are now part of a tradition of innovation, excellence, and service. We congratulate them for their extraordinary work and their continued dedication to better serving the public sector.”

Award winners will be profiled in the Oct. 12 issue of the magazine and on GCN.com. They also will also be honored at GCN's 22nd Annual Awards Gala, Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C.

THE 2009 AGENCY AWARD WINNERS

Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO), Director, Defense Research & Engineering (DDR&E), Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), Department of Defense Chief Information Officer -- DOD Techipedia Team for the DOD Techipedia Suite of Services.

Interior Department, General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget -- Data.gov Project Team for the Data.gov project.

U.S. Army -- MC4 Product Management Office for Medical Communications for Combat Care.

Defense Information Systems Agency Personnel Systems Support Branch -- Manpower, Personnel, and Security Directorate for Open Source Corporate Management Information System.

Defense Department Military Health System – Defense Health Systems for their Patient Movement Items Tracking System.

Library of Congress – Office of Strategic Initiative for their Digital Preservation Project.

United States Postal Service – Business Solutions Services for their Product Tracking system Application Modernization.

The Department of Administrative Services – Division of Finance for the Utah Public Finance Web site.

FBI – Criminal Justice Information Services for the National Data Exchange.

State Department, Bureau of Consular Affairs – Consular Systems and Technology for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative: Passport Card and Border Crossing Card.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Office of Information Technology for their Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

HONORABLE MENTION

Defense Information Systems Agency – Chief technology officer for the Forge.mil project.

City of Bremerton – Information Services for the Pawn Shop Records Search project.

Department of Defense-Health Affairs/Defense Health Information System - Theater Medical Information Program of Family Systems for the AHLTA-Mobile and AHLTA-Theater project.

National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services Department – Office of Extramural Research for the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool.

Veterans Affairs Department - Office of Information Protection and Risk Management, Network and Security Operations Center for the Remote Enterprise Security Compliance Update Environment project.

Jefferson County, Ala. - Program Management Office/Department of Information Technology for the Web Project (Web Content Management System).

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) - Program Executive Office for Information Assurance and Network Operations for the Enterprise Collaborative Operational Sensor.

U.S. Army – Chief marketing officer for the Army Experience Enter Recruiting Pilot project.

National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, FBI – ViCap Unit for the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP): ViCAP Web.

Florida 20th Judicial Circuit – Lee County, Fla., Sheriff’s Department for the Integration of the Metatomix Active Warrant Alert Calendar System.

KSL 5 News investigates state spending on trinkets and toys

KSL 5 News investigates state spending on trinkets and toys
July 6th, 2009 @ 10:12pm

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Debbie Dujanovic reporting
Produced by Kelly Just

SALT LAKE CITY -- KSL 5 News investigates how the state's been spending some of your hard-earned tax dollars. We are talking about a fraction of Utah's multi-billion dollar budget. But in a time where every penny counts, we thought you should know what you've been buying.

We are blowing the whistle on whistles, playing cards, flashlights and other trifles purchased by the state of Utah. When we spotted a couple of these items floating around our newsroom, we decided to find out why the state buys them and how much it is spending on this stuff.

There is lip balm, bookmarks, T-shirts, stickers, magnets, eyeglass holders, flashlights, crayons, mouse pads and glow sticks. These are just a few of the items the state buys to give away. We carried some of those trinkets around in, what else, a free tote bag paid for by the state. Taxpayers were surprised to hear how much Utah has been spending on this stuff.

We let one man know, "Almost $6,000 spent on cigarette death playing cards." Others reacted strongly to the Post-it notes that cost $10,562.00.

"Wow. That's a lot for just and itty-bitty piece of paper," said one woman.

Another $31,115.00 was spent on pins, wristbands, water drops, key chains and whistles.

One man told us, "I wouldn't want these at all, even if they are free."

And what about the stress balls shaped like brains? The state paid $35,790.00 for what it calls "squishy brains."

"Money well spent?" we asked.

"I think that's absurd myself," responded one fellow.

We asked 18 different state agencies for an accounting of the items they buy just to give away. As the freebies started to add up, so did the total. In two years, the state spent at least $482,375.66. That's nearly half a million bucks.

We showed the collection of toys and giveaways to the head of Utah's Disabled Rights Action Committee, a watchdog group that keeps tabs on state spending.

"It's appalling," said Barbara Toomer.

It's not the "I Voted" stickers the state hands out on Election Day or the money spent on freebies to attract tourists that Toomer minds. But she is bugged by everything else we showed her.

"It just seems to me that this is a waste of money, and it could be going to a better use, a much better use," said Toomer.

The State agencies disagree. They say they spend money on freebies to promote important educational campaigns. For example, the Utah Department of Health gives away decks of Death Cigarette playing cards to teach children the dangers of smoking.

Spokesman Tom Hudachko said, "We certainly believe having information in people's hands so they can constantly be referring to it, looking at it, is a good use of some of our resources."

The Utah Department of Natural Resources spent $63,570 on knickknacks to promote Utah parks, water safety and fire prevention. Public information officer Tammy Kikuchi told us, "Kids love little items, and they take them home and play with them and use them. And hopefully it's enforcing a message in their minds."

Kikuchi also pointed out that taxpayer money funds only 30 percent DNR's doodads. The rest is paid for with park fees, fishing licenses and permits.

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control spent the most money on this promotional stuff: $191,422.00 for the "Parents Empowered" campaign. The items include Post-it notes, mirror clings, dentist bibs and those squishy brains -- all warning about underage drinking.

"If it's a talking point for their parents to say, ‘Hey we don't want you to be drinking,' yeah, it can be effective," said DABC's Doug Murikami.

The state agencies say their marketing experts have told them these promotional items are a legitimate way to send a message. They also say they have cut back on this stuff with the recession.

Barbara Toomer has a suggestion for the state: Stop buying dental bibs and start paying for the dental care of Utah's Medicaid patients. Their coverage was cut just last week.

You can read a detailed list of some of the state freebies by clicking here.

E-mail: iteam@ksl.com

Wall Street Journal Digits Blog

By WSJ STAFF

The Personal Democracy Forum, an annual conference about the intersection of politics and technology, has attracted an all-star lineup this year. The conference opened with a Skype presentation by Michael Bloomberg and a discussion on whether Obama "revolutionized campaigning" with new media and tech innovations during the presidential race.

But moderator Andrew Rasiej drew the strongest audience reaction when he suggested that the term "public" be redefined as readable and searchable online. Government information made public should be readily accessible, and "not just in a drawer in Washington." His comment elicited flurry of Twitter activity in support, projected overhead on the Rose Theater stage; one person tweeted that it was the first innovative idea he'd heard all morning.

Rasiej also previewed tomorrow morning's conversation with the Obama administration's Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra - the discussion on the data.gov project to increase access to public data will be one to watch. "The public should be allowed to see a bill 72 hours before" it's voted on, Rasiej said, to applause.

-- Kimberly Chou

Transparency Website Usage Statistics

During the first week after the site was launched, there was a press release and multiple newspaper articles written about the transparency website. During that week there was a large amount of visitors which are displayed in an early posting.

The following stats begin the week after the big media event. It is interesting to contrast the total usage 2,371 visitors (first graph) with usage that came from within the state's network 618 visitors(second graph). Over the last month, Just over a quarter of all visitors came from state employees. You can see that on Friday's overall usage dips and for state employees almost goes to zero because of the four day work week.

Total Transparency Visits: May 25th to June 21st 2009.


Graph created by google analytics

Visits by Employees of Utah: May 25th to June 21st 2009.

New government transparency site not so clear - The Daily Utah Chronicle

Zack Oakey

Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, June 11, 2009
Updated: Thursday, June 11, 2009

By the late 19th century, the term “tabloid” had adopted a new meaning in the common tongue. Previously it described a small tablet of medicine compressed into small pieces for easy consumption. Its shift in our usage today to sensational journalism is in some way indicative of how the exposure of intimacies of public figures is used: As a drug, dulling the senses and smoothing the complexity of true human reality with a quick look at photoshopped faces.

The prevalence of these sensational publications in every gas station and grocery store across our nation paralleled by common gossip about co-workers, family, friends and others gives the impression that this behavior is powerful and instinctive. What would it look like if the Utah government got into the business of getting into other people’s business? The simple answer is Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's newest internet sensation: transparent.utah.gov.

Not unlike “choice,” “life,” “patriotism,” “families,” "sustainability" or “toxic asset relief,” who could ever oppose “transparency” in local governance? After all, our money is funneled to these people and we ought to know what they are doing with it, right?

Take a look at the Web site and ask yourself if you would have spent the nearly $250,000 on the kind of information available. It does give some information such as travel-lodging reimbursements, office-specific salaries and wages as a total, and some other housekeeping bills. But the names of the individuals who made the decisions to use our money are not listed, nor the destinations of their traveling arrangements, nor the state employee payrolls present. What is the point of a database that contains no names and no monetary particulars? Whom do we hold accountable? Some criticisms have already been heard about the nameless, faceless facts given in the site, to which lawmakers have replied that they don’t want to violate privacy laws. Easy enough right? Say you’re for the kind of transparency that is legally opaque.

If you want to see true transparency, look no further than a recent article in City Weekly that gave the common citizen real tools to find out real details. Shane Johnson and Eric Peterson of the paper detail exactly how you and I can find bodies, criminal records, business transaction archives, e-mails, and, most importantly, government documents, including financial records beyond those displayed in the transparency website. Next to these sources, The Salt Lake Tribune, in partnership with Deseret News, In This Week, Utah CEO and others compiled a database, months before the official government-endorsed version, showing more than 180,000 government employees’ compensation listed by name, salary and institution. It even includes U faculty. This is the kind of creativity and ingenuity in which the private sector will always outperform governments.

(read full article)

Lawmakers must practice transparency they preach

An article in the Deseret News was critical of Utah's Transparency website By John Florez was Published: Monday, June 15, 2009 12:36 a.m. MDT (read full article here)

The author starts out by saying that the website is a good idea:

"Transparency. Great idea. Who could be against open and accountable government?

Utah legislators might also find it the best stress-reduction medicine as they conduct business. The 2008 legislature passed SB38, which lets taxpayers see how each state agency spends its money. It was touted as a law that would expose abuse and fraud, that would lead to good governance and is critical "for an informed citizenry." Lawmakers should try it themselves."

But then, he vents his frustration.

"Right now, it's an exercise in futility that may lull citizens into believing the $115,000 cost of that legislation improves honesty in government. As of now, the transparency program only reports on where agencies spend money, not results."

The author makes the following points about Utah's Transparency website:
* The website shows lots of data

* What can an average citizen do if they discover something they don't like? (There is an email address listed on every transaction detail page where anyone can email a question. Also, citizens can still call up their elected officials to point out concerns)

* The website does not display results, only expenses (What type of results would he like to see? With approximately 50 state agencies focused on very different goals, the results don't translate uniformly into a standard accounting package. Additionally, the Governor's office has created a website to measure the performance of each state agency. The transparency website simple gives some context for the performance website.)

* The site does not give a view into Legislator's ethics & honesty

* People don't trust their government or elected officials

* The site does not display campaign finances (the state already has a campaign finance reporting website)

* The site does not display bills sponsored by legislators or conflicts of interest (the state has a detailed legislation website where all that data is posted)

* The site overwhelms citizens with data that has no value

* Lawmakers need to apply the same level of transparency to themselves as they have to the rest of the state (A) they already do and B) didn't he just say it had no value?)

So, my summary of John's article is that Utah's transparency website is an exercise in futility because it provides to much useless information, but it would be better if the site digested a lot more information, and told him exactly which legislator's he can trust.

My response to John is that,
A) The purpose of the transparency site is to take raw accounting records and post them online for public use.
B) The other information he is looking for regarding legislator's transparency already exists and is linked to directly from the transparency website.
C) I, as an average citizen don't trust any analysis until I can see the supporting evidence. This website is simply the supporting evidence. Now, when the government makes some sort of statement or claim of success, I have a tool that can be used to verify the validity of that statement.
D) Purchasing habits by state employees have and will change because anything they purchase is posted online and could be immediately called into question. State employees don't want the appearance of a scandal so they will make more cautious purchases.
E) Vendors of competing products now can see what the state spends and can present lower bids.
F) The watch dog press now has a wealth of information that was previously hidden behind government access procedures that were very time consuming.

Norquist: Limit spending, but not information

By ANDREW SCHOTZ
June 12, 2009
andrews@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The United States that Grover Norquist envisions is full of freedoms and transparency.

Those ideas are tied together, said Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a nonprofit lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C.

Tax increases burden everyday Americans, he said.

...

Texas and Missouri are among more than 20 states with good disclosure models; the public doesn’t have to ask for data, he said.

Norquist said one of the best approaches is in Utah, where even at local levels, spending must be publicly posted.

(Read Full Article)

UTAH'S TRANSPARENCY WEBSITE: 40% LESS COSTLY THAN EXPECTED - Sutherland Institute

UTAH'S TRANSPARENCY WEBSITE: 40% LESS COSTLY THAN EXPECTED

We commend the managers and staff of the Utah Division of Finance for adjusting their many priorities in order to make Utah's public finance website, www.transparent.utah.gov, a reality - on time, and at relatively low cost - and we congratulate them for a job very well done.

The total cost, to date, to launch this outstanding citizen resource is $283,251, which is 41 percent less than the projected price tag for the current fiscal year: $480,400. The preliminary cost estimate - a fiscal note attached to the legislation that created the website - cited hardware, software, and personnel hours as the source of the costs. The State Division of Finance, however, was able to stay below the original estimate by purchasing less expensive hardware and by using current staff for the website project, rather than hiring new employees.

Sutherland encourages responsible citizens to email the Director of the Division of Finance, John Reidhead (jreidhead@utah.gov), and express their appreciation for making the implementation of government transparency a priority.

Sutherland also encourages citizens to begin using this vital new tool, as public use of the information now readily and conveniently available through the website is essential to the success of transparency, as well as for the preservation of our liberty and representative government.

(See original posting)

Taking steps toward transparency - Deseret News

Taking steps toward transparency

By Bob Bernick Jr.

Deseret News Published: Monday, June 8, 2009 12:42 a.m. MDT


Have a little time to kill? Want to find out how the Utah state government is spending billions of your taxpayer dollars?

You might take a spin on the state's new "transparency" Web site, located at: utah.gov/transparency.

It could take some time to find what you're really looking for. And large, general searches — like looking up how much "food" the state bought in the current fiscal year — may provide more trivia conversations with friends and colleagues than information vital to citizens.

But still, you can find some pretty interesting stuff.

Of course, Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, the sponsor of the bill ordering the state to set up the site (cost, around $115,000), and those backing his efforts, say the information — both where state revenues are coming from and where they are being spent — is critical to an informed citizenry.

"The site has proven to be much better than I expected" when he passed the bill several years ago, said Niederhauser. "The site is much more searchable and easier to use that other states' sites. Everything is there, everything that the state spends money on."

(view full article)

Center for Fiscal Accountability

Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Fiscal Accountability Applaud the Launch of the Utah Public Finance Website


WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Americans for Tax Reform and its Center for Fiscal
Accountability applaud the launch of the Utah Public Finance Portal, transparent.utah.gov. By giving Utahans access to their state’s finances, the portal
empowers citizens to become true fiscal watchdogs of their state.

The website is a result of a legislative effort led by Senator Wayne Niederhauser and
allows taxpayers to access data on Utah state spending. Visitors can drill down from
several categories of spending to find exact expenditures which are accessible in a print format and exportable to pdf documents.

“On the behalf of taxpayers everywhere, I congratulate the state of Utah for taking such an important step on the road to government accountability,” said Grover Norquist,
president of Americans for Tax Reform, “As taxpayers fund every state expense, they
deserve to know whether those expenditures are good investments of their hard-earned
tax dollars.”

With the launch of its sight, Utah becomes the first state in the nation to require localities to provide expenditure data, providing taxpayers another level of transparency in their government. The local information will be available by May 15, 2010. Allowing Utahans greater scrutiny of their state’s spending can reduce waste, fraud and abuse while transforming the relationship between the state and its people.

“Thomas Jefferson once said: ‘We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear
and intelligible as a merchant’s books, so that every members of Congress and every man
of any kind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and
consequently to control them,’” said Center for Fiscal Accountability Executive Director Sandra Fabry. “The Utah Public Finance Website is a great model for other states to imitate in making state and local spending information available to taxpayers in a comprehensive and user-friendly format.”

http://www.lobbyme.blogspot.com/

Show Me the Money!

The State of Utah has come a long ways...

I remember as a college student doing an internship that required me to tabulate and record the voting records for a series of Senate Bills. Maybe this dates me (it was just in the late '90s), but none of the data was available electronically - not on the web or even available on a disk. I had to literally go up the Capitol and ask the grumpy old Senate receptionist lady for the record book and record the votes by hand (I did have a laptop so that helped somewhat).

Now look at us today! The State Legislature has an awesome searchable and (relatively) user-friendly website. And yesterday, our new 'Acting Governor' announced this new site - Transparent Utah. It's a gold mine of searchable budget related data. Ever wonder how much goes to education? roads? or the Health Department? You can see how much the state is spending by agency and department. It's not audited and much of the data is aggregated and not broken out by line item, but still what a great resource.

I much prefer this type of site to utahwastebuster, which was/is an effort by Representative John Dougall and Senator Steve Urquhart to uncover state spending waste. While I can appreciate the concern to prevent waste I felt that site was more about promoting personal agendas rather than actually solving significant waste issues. That site has not seen much traffic since the legislative session when it was initially promoted, and it doesn't appear any significant 'waste' was reported or investigated.

I come from the school of the thought that says give people access to the information and they'll find the issues, problems, and even good things being done in our governement. The premis of a wastebuster type site assumes not just waste but almost some type of criminal misdoing on the part of government employees. And I think conservatives make this mistake too often by assuming there is something criminal happening when in more cases than not, waste is simply the by-product of an ineffecient bureaucracy. That said, I think it would be appropriate for the State to actually have a whistleblower site/system to ferret out criminal acts. (Does anyone know if they already do - I would think so)

I believe transparency is a key element of a vibrant democracy. I'm pleased to see our elected officials acknowledge our right to know and have access to this type of information. So. All you government watchdog wannabes - get on there and dig to your heart's content. It's your government - make it better!

Colleges use vague law to keep records private

Colleges use vague law to keep records private
Many misapply law to conceal violations by athletics teams

By JILL RIEPENHOFF • and TODD JONES • June 4, 2009

Across the country, many major-college athletic departments keep their NCAA troubles secret behind a thick veil of black ink or Wite-Out.
Advertisement

Alabama. Cincinnati. Florida. Florida State. Ohio State. Oklahoma. Oregon State. Utah. They all censor information in the name of student privacy, invoking a 35-year-old federal law whose author says it has been twisted and misused by the universities.

Former U.S. Sen. James L. Buckley said it's time for Congress to rein in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which he crafted to keep academic records from public view.

A six-month Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch investigation found that FERPA, as it's commonly called, is a law with many conflicting interpretations. And that makes it virtually impossible to decipher what is going on inside a $5 billion college-sports world that is funded by fans, donors, alumni, television networks and, at most schools, taxpayers.

full article

After two weeks of being online, the number of visitors has leveled out at around 100 to 200 visitors per day during week days.

The big spike happened on the day of the media event with Lt Governor Herbert announcing the site. On that day there were 1730 visitors and the following day there were 937.

Fox 13 video report

Positive Twitter Comments (tweets)

zholmquist Well played Utah! RT @UtahHive: Lt. Gov Herbert unveiled the Utah Public Finance Website http://transparent.utah.gov #SLC

urtherevolution Check out our awesome new website! transparent.utah.gov

tiegz Transparent #Utah: http://transparent.utah.gov (nice and clean UI)

bashley Hey, now that's bold, no, BOLD, that is, naming your site transparency.utah.gov http://bit.ly/uPkuY I like it.

cflinnds Discuss?:RT @IdahoReports: [..] Utah have just est. a transparency web site-- [...] best in the nation. Should ID follow? http://tr.im/lTMH

IdahoReports Our neighbors in Utah have just est. a transparency web site-- possibly the best in the nation. Should ID follow? http://tr.im/lTMH

djbressler @windley That Utah transparency thing is incredible, would love to do something like that for my nonprofit.

mrsnatalie Nifty site RT @sausagegrinder See where your state tax dollars are going. Or take a nap.

scotthburton http://www.utah.gov/transparency lets you see how the state is spending each dollar. Very good accountability.

KVNUftp New blog post: Utah's new transparency Web site is pretty sweet http://bit.ly/1A5IKs

Utah Tax Payers Association Article

Tax Alert — Transparency Website
Posted on 26 May 2009

Utah taxpayers have a new tool to hold state government accountable. Thanks to the Utah Legislature and Senator Wayne Niederhauser, sponsor of the transparency in government spending legislation, Utah now has the nation’s best transparency website, transparent.utah.gov.

With this new website, anyone can see how Utah spends every taxpayer dollar. From reimbursements to out of state travel to paid leave, transparent.utah.gov lets everyone see the state’s check register. With this powerful tool, taxpayers can easily look for waste, fraud and abuse in state spending, thereby restrain the growth in state government.
As more people scrutinize how the state is spending taxpayer dollars, taxpayers will be better protected. Already Utah’s transparency website has show its merit. Just three days after the website went live, data from transparent.utah.gov showed that Utah has spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on bottled water.
Despite fierce opposition from local governments when transparency in government was first enacted by the Legislature, Utah’s cities, counties, school districts, transit districts, etc. will be providing their finances online within the next two years.

As local governments come online, taxpayers will have tremendous resources to review proposed budgets, prepare for Truth-in-Taxation hearings, and hold their local leaders accountable.
The tools are coming online, and your Taxpayers Association is watching carefully. Let’s all get out there and protect taxpayer dollars.

News Story New Web sites track state spending

New Web sites track state spending

By The Associated Press
05.20.09

Officials in several states have launched new Web sites intended to show how government is spending taxpayer dollars.

In Utah, transparent.utah.gov provides a searchable database of line-item expenditures for state agencies since July. see full article

Sutherland Institute - - GREAT NEW RESOURCE FOR UTAH'S RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS

Utah taxpayers are now just a click away from being able to see how their tax dollars are being spent. Utah's new public finance website - www.transparent.utah.gov - was introduced by Lt. Governor Gary Herbert at a press conference on Tuesday, May 19, in the Gold Room at the State Capitol.

Lt. Gov. Herbert said, "A common complaint people have is, 'We don't know what government is doing, we don't know how they're doing it, and we don't know how they're spending our money.'"

While the Beehive State joins other states with similar websites - including Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri - Utah now has what may be the finest, most user-friendly public finance website in the country. Many are to be commended for the creation, design, funding, and supervision of this resource that is essential to the preservation of our democratic processes and liberties. ... see full article

Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion

Follow the money - Limited transparency on state's site
Tribune Editorial

Updated: 05/21/2009 05:00:03 PM MDT

With considerable hoopla, the State of Utah unveiled its new transparency Web site Tuesday. Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert hailed it as a way for taxpayers to find out where their money goes.

We visited the site, transparent.utah.gov, on Wednesday. We were underwhelmed...

"The Health Department has $1.5 billion in expenses, according to the site. Of that, about $724 million goes to medical assistance, and about $265 million goes to inpatient hospitals. That category includes myriad individual welfare medical provider payments listed on the site, including one of $3,093,770 to an inpatient hospital that was posted July 31, 2008. Trouble is, the vendor/payee is listed as "not applicable," so we don't know who received the payment or even if it was a hospital. Specialized vendor searches for LDS Hospital and University Hospital came up blank."

Here's the last paragraph, positive note:

"Utah officials deserve credit for making many of the state's raw financial numbers available, but transparency has its limits, especially when identities are shielded. In terms of providing the "why" of the numbers, independent reporting on the dollars and sense of government remains more important than the numbers themselves. Because context is everything."

KSL reports on Bottled Water

KSL ran a story on May 21st with the headline: "Gulp! State spends $220K on bottled water".

Site Launch

On Tuesday at 10:00 am, Lt Governor Herbert announced the new website that makes the Utah financial records available to the public at http://transparent.utah.gov