Small Step in Right Direction in NH Senate

Thursday, March 4, 2010 4:45 PM

According to NewHampshireWatchdog.org, the New Hampshire State Senate has taken a step towards greater fiscal accountabiltiy by passing a bill requiring the online posting of state expenditures.

SB 359 requires that the following information be disclosed:

• The payment date.
•  The name of the recipient of the payment.
• The amount of the payment.
• The source of funding for the payment.

While this is a step in the right direction, we agree with Jay Flanders of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy that it does not go far enough. Flanders says that it is equally important to see what the money was spent on and that:

an effective bill would mandate the data be posted in a download-able and search-able format, include recipient addresses, and require DAS to post the information in a timely manner. He says state officials shouldn’t be allowed to wait nearly a year to release public information, and that the current bill does not specify how frequent or how timely the spending reports must be.

As we've stated before, all government expenditure details (the who, what, when, why) - and not just aggregated lump sums - should be posted in fully search- sort- and exportable data format with access to the actual expenditure document, and in as close to real-time as possible.

We're not quite there yet, but at least the New Hampshire Senate is moving towards that goal.

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