U.S. PIRG sizes up states for online transparency

According to researchers at the United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), states are responding to pressure for greater transparency by placing more and more information on line. Their findings were released in a new report, Following the Money 2012: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data.

Co-author and PIRG staffer Ryan Pierannunzi said that improvements are often done in steps. "There are a lot of small improvements that states have made that aren't as dramatic as launching an entirely new website," he said. "But once states have these data warehouses that they can build upon and standardize their record-keeping, it's going to be [more about] maintaining and advancing what is already there."

Report Card Ranks 50 States on Transparency of Spending (news release, U.S. PIRG, Mar. 14, 2012)

State Spending Transparency Improving, Report Finds (Government Technology, Mar. 14, 2012)