Group gives Oregon A+ grade in state spending transparency

Oregon received an A+ grade, when it comes to government spending transparency in a new report released Wednesday,

That’s the grade given in “Following the Money 2016: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” the seventh annual report of its kind by Oregon Public Interest Research Group Foundation.

Oregon is one of just four states with a perfect score based on our criteria this year, the organization said.

Here’s the rest of their news release, in full:

This year’s report recognized more states as leaders than ever before with all but one state providing checkbook-level data for one or more economic development subsidy programs and more than half of states making that subsidy data available for researchers to download and analyze. Several states achieved perfect or near perfect scores based on this year’s criteria.

“Oregon is a national leader in spending transparency, thanks in large part to the state’s commitment to shining an ever brighter light on its economic development subsidies,” said Michelle Surka, program associate with OSPIRG Foundation. “However, there is always room for improvement as the bar for transparency rises. Oregon should look toward new transparency frontiers, like improving access to municipal spending data.”

Officials from Oregon and 43 other states provided the researchers with feedback on their initial evaluation of state transparency websites.

Based on an inventory of the content and ease-of-use of states’ transparency websites, the “Following the Money 2016” report assigns each state a grade of “A” to “F.” The leading states with the most comprehensive transparency websites are Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Oregon, and Connecticut.

“States’ online spending transparency efforts are paying off in better informed citizens and a more efficient government,” said Elizabeth Ridlington, policy analyst with Frontier Group and co-author of the report. “Our research found that top-ranked states have been making steady improvements to their transparency websites over the years, giving citizens in most states unprecedented access to information on where their tax money goes.”

States that have created or improved their online transparency have typically done so with little upfront cost. In fact, top-flight transparency websites can save money for taxpayers, while also restoring public confidence in government and preventing misspending and pay-to-play contracts.

Oregon officials reported that their transparency portal cost Existing budget to create and Existing budget to maintain annually.

Oregon’s transparency website is operated by the Enterprise Information Strategy and Policy Division, Department of Administrative Services. To visit it, click here:www.oregon.gov/transparency.

To read the full report: http://ospirgfoundation.org/reports/orf/following-money-2016