Transparency

The idea that government budget and spending information should be available to the public is nothing new in American society. In fact, many of America’s Founding Fathers are known to have been ardent supporters of transparency in public finance. But not until the advent of the Internet has the promise of financial transparency been truly achievable.

“We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant’s books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1802

Today, the growth of the Internet and the evolution of technology has put all manner of public information just a few clicks away—assuming it is available online in the first place.

With more and more public information becoming available, the public is benefiting in several ways, including:

• Becoming better educated on the issues;
• Helping to guard against waste, fraud, and abuse;
• Knowledgably engaging their public officials;
• Promoting higher standards of government accountability;
• Reducing the cost of government goods and services.

If done right, the benefits of transparency far outweigh the costs—and few other places have done more to prove that than Texas.

In just a few short years, the state’s transparency efforts have helped save tens of millions of dollars, and helped to educate the public on how their money is being spent.