Chairman Currie, and members of the Budget and Taxation Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony today. My name is Johanna Neumann and I am the state director for Maryland PIRG, the Maryland Public Interest Research Group. Maryland PIRG is a statewide non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization.
I am here today in support of Senate Bill 819, and in particular to speak to the benefits of disclosing information about state financial assistance and expenditures through an easy to use searchable online database.
We live in an era where Americans expect to be able to search their own bank accounts or cell phone bills online, in which we can verify information people tell us by googling it online. To restore public confidence in government, we also need to live in an era of “google-able government” when it comes to transparency and accountability for the public purse.
Especially in these tough budget times, taxpayers should be able to track every taxpayer dollar spent and make sure we are getting the most ‘bang for our buck’ for any business subsidies. Regardless of what one thinks about whether there should be more or less business subsidies, our the residents of our state deserve to get the greatest results and accountability for each dollar. And taxpayers have a right to know whether their dollars are being used efficiently and effectively. During the special session, you were forced to make some tough decisions to balance a massive budget deficit. Some of these decisions cut funding for programs and raised taxes for many Marylanders. The Maryland Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2008 will create an important tool for Maryland’s citizens to better understand the decisions that were made.
Many other states have taken important steps in providing accessible information to their citizens regarding government spending. Missouri and Texas have already created websites with detailed information about state spending that is searchable by agency, category, contract, or vendor. Oklahoma, Hawaii, Kansas, and Minnesota also passed transparency laws this past year.
Minnesota, for example, reports total subsidy amount, wage and benefits data for the jobs created by subsidies, a summary of the goals in the subsidy agreement, outcomes until goals are attained, and (when applicable) a company’s former location within the state and the reason for relocation. This data allows Minnesotans to know which subsidies are creating new upwardly jobs, as opposed to just promoting relocation from one town to another with worse jobs. Maryland deserves no less.
Accessibility and formatting of the disclosure reports are also important. We all know that having data somewhere on the web is not the same as true accessibility and usability. For example, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has a specially designated corporate accountability website created pursuant to the 2003 Corporate Accountability in Tax Expenditures Act. All compliance reports are available there in an easy-to-use database searchable by report year, award year, and program type. Maryland deserves no less.
The companion bill to SB 819 in the House of Delegates, House Bill 358, has already passed through the Health and Government Operations Committee with unanimous bi-partisan support. Sen. Mooney and Sen. Raskin have worked together on this bill to give Maryland a bi-partisan approach to good government and citizen’s right-to-know.
Our government should have a website that shows how every public dollar gets spent. People can have better confidence in public officials when people can hold them accountable. We look forward to working with you and the legislature to increase transparency and accountability. Together we can maintain our proud tradition of open government in Maryland, and build public trust in the investments made with taxpayer money.
We urge you to vote favorably for SB 819.
