So, it's Sunshine Week here in Florida, and no, I don't mean that yall should go outside- this has nothing to do with the UV index. Instead, we should all be celebrating openness and transparency in government. Democrats in this state- like Reubin Askew- have a great history of promoting openness. Charlie Crist, however, seems to have hijacked this issue from us. So, now, we've got people like Rhonda Storms (R-Crazytown) introducing bills that are actually good, that would actually make a difference in transparency and bring trust back into state government.
The bill I'm specifically referring too is the "Florida Budget Openness Act," which is being sponsored in part by Storms.
The St. Pete Times says that the bill
would direct that a Web site be created to track the fiscal details of every government entity in the state including local governments, the courts, the Legislature, school districts, state colleges, etc. Interested in how much a city's parks department is paying in salaries? Call up the Web site. Want to know how much bond debt your county is carrying? It would be there. The Web site would give taxpayers the power to understand just how their money is being spent. It would be a tremendous boon to civic activism and engagement.My knee jerk reaction is to hate anything that remotely involves Rhonda Storms. But, this is a good idea, and Democrats need to get involved so that it's executed correctly and integrated with other sites, like CFO Sink's new GetLeanFlorida.
Get involved if only because Rhonda Storms' idea of usability involves getting rid of the Dewey Decimal System.
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