Face The State Staff Report
Update: HB 1288 passed out of the House on third reading Thursday morning. Four Democrats, Reps. Joel Judd, Gwen Green, Sara Gagliardi and Su Ryden voting no.
House Bill 1288, legislation seeking to put the state's checkbook online, was approved on second reading in the House Wednesday.
NikkelFTS File Photo
On April 2, Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, signed an executive order also geared toward putting state finances online. But Rep. B.J. Nikkel, a Loveland Republican and HB 1288's sponsor, says Ritter’s executive order does not go far enough and has continued to advocate for her bill's passage.
While the efforts may be similar, Nikkel says it’s important that transparency be accomplished through statute and not executive order because orders can be repealed at any time by any governor and for any reason. Additionally, she has criticized Ritter’s plan to put state expenses online, saying it only allows for aggregate spending totals in many instances.
Nikkel said she has encountered some opposition, but is finding overwhelming support for her bill from both sides of the aisle.
During Ritter's press conference announcing his executive order, he said he was not aware of the differences between his proposal and Nikkel’s, but committed to following HB 1288's progress. “We’ll see where there are differences and whether it is duplicative, or whether it mirrors exactly the executive order,” he said.
Nikkel said she has not heard from Ritter's office since he signed the executive order.