Sciortino, Jehlen Push for State Budget Website

The following is an announcement from State Representative Carl Sciortino (D-Medford, Somerville) and State Senator Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville, Medford):

Local Legislators Help Bring Transparency to Government

Medford legislators help state move closer to government transparency. Representative Carl Sciortino and Senator Pat Jehlen co-sponsored legislation that makes all state spending and revenue transparent by establishing a comprehensive state budget website. Last week, the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight passed the State Budget Transparency Bill from their committee. Sciortino and Jehlen will be working to pass this bill and make it law in the coming months.

The bill, An Act relative to the Massachusetts Revenues and Expenditures Transparency Act, HB 2972, directs the Secretary of Administration and Finance to create and maintain a searchable website detailing the costs, recipients, and purposes for all appropriations, including contracts, grants, subcontracts, tax expenditures and other subsidies funded by the state government. The database will include state revenue sources and expenses including the “quasi-public” agencies. The web portal would be accessible to the public and updated on a regular basis.

This step towards greater transparency comes at a difficult fiscal time for Massachusetts. “I have been fighting to bring greater budget transparency with many of my colleagues since I first assumed office. People should be able to easily find out how their tax dollars are being put to use. I believe this website will bring greater accountability to the budget process and will help to restore trust in the state government during this difficult economic time,” says Representative Sciortino. The new website will allow anyone to look up and track government revenue and expenditures.

“I am looking forward to passing this bill in the Senate and the benefit it will have for our state,” said Senator Jehlen. “I believe this kind of transparency is essential for democracy. We are working to provide our constituents the opportunity to know how public dollars are spent and empowering them to ask more of their elected leaders.” Massachusetts would join at least 31 other states that mandate that citizens have access to a searchable database of government expenditures.

“As early cosponsors of the bill, Sciortino and Jehlen have been leaders on budget transparency, including the overdue transparency reform for corporate tax breaks. We are looking forward to working with legislators this session to see this bill passes through the legislature,” said Deirdre Cummings, Legislative Director of MASSPIRG. MASSPIRG has been a strong advocate for a move towards greater government transparency and has worked with legislators towards the success of this bill.