Open Books: Oklahoma’s Finances Online

Okie Campaigns congratulates Senator Randy Brogdon, who said:

We are charged with being good stewards of the state’s resources…Making the appropriations process completely transparent and easily accessible to our citizens is simply the right thing to do, because in reality, every dollar the Legislature appropriates belongs to the citizens.

Senator Brogden explained that the Oklahoma program is modeled on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, introduced by Tom Coburn and Barack Obama.

According to the introduction to Oklahoma’s Open Books web site:

The OpenBooks Web site contains information or links to information that will be useful in providing citizens insight into how state government works as well as the money received and spent. Although there are many components to this Web site, this How-to guide will mainly focus on the Search Financial Data by Agency or Function of Government functionality.

The financial information may be searched by agency or by Function of Government. The Function of Government is a classification that has been established to indicate the primary duties, responsibilities and services performed by each agency of state government. Each agency is assigned to one of the following ten governmental functions.

1. General Government
2. Legal and Judiciary
3. Education
4. Museums
5. Health
6. Social Services
7. Public Safety and Defense
8. Transportation
9. Regulatory Services
10. Natural Resources

According to a report in the Tulsa World:

The site will allow people to search a variety of budget information for each of the state agencies, plus the state at large.

Among other things, they can determine how much is spent for personnel, professional services, or even furniture and equipment, said Tony Hutchison, director of the Office of State Finance.

The state’s comprehensive financial report also will be online, he said, adding that the site will offer a tutorial on how the budget works.

Also see: Chuck Muth: Open the Books & Let the Sun Shine In

Also on: Green Country Values