Mike Haridopolos Representing Florida Senate District 26

Senators put state spending in the sunshine

Mar 25, 2009

Floridians might become online state auditors
by Paul Flemming

TALLAHASSEE—Leaders of the Senate want to put all Floridians to work as auditors of spending, putting every state expenditure online.

A Web site detailing the state’s budget won’t be ready for months, but Senate lawmakers unveiled the idea for Transparency Florida Wednesday.

Sen. J.D. Alexander, a Winter Haven Republican and Senate budget chief, said as staff worked to put together a comprehensive tool for budget tracking an idea was born.

“It occurred to us that not only the Legislature” could use it “but we could effectively turn 18 million Floridians into auditors,” Alexander said.

In a mock demonstration, Alexander peeled back categories of spending for a state agency, down to individual programs and specific expenditures such as salaries, phone bills and travel costs. The demonstration included charting features to reveal how much of personnel costs are salary, health care, retirement and other benefits.

Alexander said the Web site and its development will cost about $500,000. It should be ready for public consumption in about four months. “I’d argue it will pay for itself many times over,” Alexander said.

When completed, the site would offer detailed information about agencies, programs, salaries—every expenditure.

“If you’re paying a tax, you need to know where those taxes are being spent,” said Sen. Charlie Dean, a Republican from Inverness.

Alexander said including details about expenditures through state contracts will not immediately be available, though including that is a goal within the next year or two. Neither would the Web site reveal anything about the sausage-making process of developing the budget in the Legislature.

Doug Martin, legislative communications director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said it was a great idea. He said privatization contracts in the last decade have taken “state data into a black hole.” AFSCME represents 110,000 state, university and local government employees in Florida.

“I spend almost every day researching budget issues,” Martin said, noting that such a comprehensive single source for information would be very useful. He said full information about state contracts would be even more welcome.

Detailing state employee’s pay was not a problem for Martin. “As long as personally identifiable data is not available to the public, those salaries are already a public record and they should be. It’s public monies.”

Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who previously was superintendent of Okaloosa County schools, said the district put a similar budget tool online. “I think this put’s Florida’s checkbook on the Internet.”

It wasn’t all Republicans touting the idea. Sen. Jeremy Ring, a Democrat from Margate, joined the Republicans touting the idea.

Sen. Mike Haridopolos, a Merritt Island Republican and vocal advocate of limiting government spending, said the Web site holds great promise.

“This is what we’ve been talking about for years,” Haridopolos said. “This is what people campaigned on, changing how we do business. We’re fulfilling that promise.”

Reprinted from the Florida Today