Face the State

Face The State Staff Report

Gov. Bill Ritter attempted to head off Republicans' legislative efforts to place state spending records online by issuing his own executive order, but bill sponsors say they will still push for a state statute despite his action.

L to R: Bernie Buescher, Terrance Carroll, Bill RitterFTS Staff Photo

Ritter's order will create a new, free searchable database to include include information about state revenues and expenditures. The Transparency Online Project “shall provide information about state revenues and expenditures at a level of detail that enables accountability and transparency. Where access to each individual transaction is likely to hinder, rather than foster, this goal, the system may provide access to aggregated information.”

When asked how state credit cards or reimbursement checks issued to state employees for multiple items would appear in the TOP system, Ritter responded, "I think there will be times when [the public] can look at specific information, and times when it will be aggregated."

State Rep. B.J. Nikkel, a Loveland Republican, says the aggregate spending totals aren't good enough. She has introduced House Bill 1288, currently waiting to be heard in Appropriations committee that would also put the state checkbook online, but in a more detailed way than Ritter is proposing. “My bill is a much broader transparency bill,” she said. “[Ritter's executive order] talks in terms of their searchable web-based system providing access to descriptions of revenues and expenditures, and that’s a very nebulous term. I think there is a big difference between my bill and what the governor is talking about doing.”

Ritter said he was not aware of the differences between his executive order and Nikkel’s bill, but he is following its progress. “We’ll see where there are differences and whether it is duplicative, or whether it mirrors exactly the executive order,” he said.

Nikkel also disputed Ritter’s $70,000 price tag, citing a memo from the state's Office of Information Technology that says the project can be done for as little as $13,000. “We believe transparency can be enacted for a much lower cost than the fiscal note that came from the governor’s office,” she said.

Ritter first announced his intent to put state spending online during his January State of the State speech. He partnered with Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, who was planning to run legislation that would create a similar online database. Marostica pulled the bill after Ritter's announcement. Nikkel then resurrected the bill, saying it was important to put the checkbook online through a statute, instead of an executive order because an executive order can be repealed at any time by any governor.