State government adding to transparency

There are different ways to measure government accountability and transparency. A new report by a non-profit advocacy group gives Washington a B-plus grade for improving public access to state spending data.

The report from WashPIRG Foundation, a public-interest advocacy group, is titled, “Following the Money 2016: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data.”

Washington isn’t yet in the top 10, but WashPIRG lists it as one of 17 “advancing states” that are putting more and more state budget data and documents online.

The state’s main spending-information site — located at fiscal.wa.gov — has operated for many years, and it continues to improve as a go-to place for those wanting the latest budget proposals during legislative sessions or just to see how many people work in an individual agency. Other search functions tell the salary paid in previous years to individual state employees and K-12 school workers.

The site is much more than that, however. It has a checkbook feature that lets one look up state expenditures to contractors and also to quasi-governmental organizations such as local housing authorities. This latter tool was developed by the Commerce Department and the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

The site also has an inventory of state fees. Other improvements to the state’s data sharing include links to tax-break information developed with the Department of Revenue. There are nearly 700 tax exemptions, tax deferrals or tax credits in the state tax code.

Over the long haul, government wins trust from the people it serves by making its decisions easier to track and understand.

And fiscal.wa.gov — which the Legislature created in 2008 as a collaboration of the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program and the Office of Financial Management — is a tool to help that along.

Another report last year put Washington’s state and local governments in a less flattering light. That analysis by the Center for Public Integrity ranked Washington No. 8 overall among the states but gave it a D-plus grade for transparency, accountability, ethics and oversight.

That integrity report pointed out a lack of laws requiring a cooling-off period for certain top officials and lawmakers who leave public service to work in the private sector lobbying. But it also used a new grading system that lowered scores for all states, which is why Washington ranked so high despite its low letter grade.

The CPI report was based on data prior to Washington taking a few notable steps that should improve future scores. The Legislature provided funds for the state Public Disclosure Commission’s software upgrade which will better disclose lobbyist spending, including the wining and dining of lawmakers. Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration also is putting more agency data online at data.wa.gov.

Taken together, the PIRG and CPI reports show our state can still improve but is moving toward greater transparency.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "State government adding to transparency."