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To:
 
All
 
Legislators
 
From:
 
State
 
Representative
 
Bill
 
Kramer
 
Date:
 
February
 
10,
 
2009
 
Re:
 
The
 
Government
 
Checkbook
 
Disclosure
 
Act,
 
LRB
‐
1205
 
 –
 
Co
‐
sponsorship
 
memorandum
 
I
 
am
 
circulating
 
LRB
‐
1205,
 
the
 
Government
 
Checkbook
 
Disclosure
 
Act,
 
for
 
co
‐
sponsorship.
 
As
 
the
 
US
 
Congress
 
and
 
President
 
Obama
 
consider
 
a
 
near
 
$1
 
trillion
 
dollar
 
spending
 
package
 
with
 
Wisconsin
 
expected
 
to
 
receive
 
up
 
to
 
$4
 
billion
 
in
 
that
 
spending
 
proposal,
 
it
 
is
 
evermore
 
important
 
to
 
maintain
 
strict
 
oversight
 
and
 
public
 
scrutiny
 
over
 
state
 
spending
 
habits.
 
This
 
legislation
 
is
 
similar
 
to
 
legislation
 
that
 
has
 
passed
 
in
 
several
 
other
 
states
 
and
 
compliments
 
the
 
database
 
and
 
website
 
that
 
the
 
federal
 
government
 
is
 
required
 
to
 
maintain.
 
The
 
federal
 
legislation
 
was
 
authored
 
by
 
then
‐
Senator
 
Barack
 
Obama
 
(D
‐
IL)
 
and
 
Senator
 
Tom
 
Coburn
 
(R
‐
Oklahoma)
 
and
 
has
 
vastly
 
improved
 
the
 
public’s
 
awareness
 
of 
 
federal
 
spending
 
habits.
 
It
 
is
 
our
 
intent
 
to
 
emulate
 
that
 
success.
 
That
 
website
 
is
 
at:
 
http://www.usaspending.gov/
 
Our
 
bill
 
will
 
require
 
the
 
Department
 
of 
 
Administration
 
to
 
create
 
a
 
database
 
and
 
website
 
of 
 
all
 
state
 
expenditures
 
over
 
$25,
 
allowing
 
the
 
public
 
to
 
see
 
every
 
significant
 
appropriation
 
that
 
the
 
state
 
makes.
 
The
 
database
 
will
 
include
 
grants,
 
contracts,
 
and
 
checks
 
 –
 
even
 
for
 
such
 
things
 
as
 
office
 
supply
 
orders
 
 –
 
so
 
that
 
the
 
public
 
can
 
easily
 
search
 
and
 
see
 
how
 
state
 
government
 
spends
 
the
 
taxpayers’
 
money.
 
Additionally,
 
LRB
‐
1205
 
will
 
require
 
disclosure
 
of 
 
salary,
 
salary
 
history,
 
and
 
pay
 
increases
 
for
 
all
 
state
 
employees,
 
including
 
the
 
value
 
of 
 
any
 
healthcare
 
benefits
 
they
 
receive.
 
Considering
 
that
 
over
 
40
 
percent
 
of 
 
the
 
state
 
budget
 
is
 
appropriated
 
as
 
aid
 
to
 
school
 
districts,
 
we
 
have
 
also
 
included
 
school
 
districts
 
to
 
stringently
 
track
 
their
 
spending
 
for
 
inclusion
 
in
 
the
 
DOA
 
database
 
and
 
website.
 
It
 
isn’t
 
our
 
money
 
to
 
spend.
 
It
 
is
 
not
 
the
 
public’s
 
responsibility
 
to
 
monitor
 
how
 
we
 
spend
 
their
 
money
 
 –
 
it
 
is
 
OUR
 
responsibility
 
to
 
show
 
that
 
we
 
are
 
spending
 
it
 
wisely.
 
Taxpayers
 
should
 
not
 
have
 
to
 
make
 
the
 
case
 
why
 
we
 
are
 
spending
 
it
 
imprudently;
 
rather,
 
we
 
should
 
be
 
showing
 
them
 
that
 
we
 
aren’t.
 
And
 
this
 
website/database
 
will
 
go
 
a
 
long
 
way
 
in
 
doing
 
so.
 
Indeed,
 
much
 
of 
 
the
 
goal
 
of 
 
this
 
idea
 
is
 
to
 
ferret
 
out
 
waste
 
in
 
government.
 
To
 
be
 
certain,
 
it
 
probably
 
won’t
 
be
 
difficult
 
to
 
identify
 
the
 
alleged
 
waste.
 
But
 
certainly
 
couldn’t
 
the
 
website
 
serve
 
as
 
a
 
means
 
to
 
show
 
the
 
spending
 
priorities
 
of 
 
state
 
government?
 
The
 
state
 
does
 
expend
 
resources
 
on
 
very
 
worthwhile
 
programs
 
 –
 
and
 
they
 
deserve
 
to
 
be
 
known
 
 just
 
as
 
the
 
waste
 
in
 
government
 
does.
 
STATE CAPITOL
P.O. Box 7882Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7882
 
 
 
A
 
tool
 
like
 
this
 
only
 
serves
 
to
 
help
 
constituents
 
and
 
legislators
 
to
 
better
 
shepherd
 
tax
 
dollars.
 
It
 
provides
 
a
 
roadmap
 
so
 
that
 
we
 
can
 
better
 
allocate
 
the
 
resources
 
that
 
the
 
taxpayers
 
have
 
entrusted
 
to
 
us.
 
This
 
proposal
 
is
 
neither
 
vindictive
 
nor
 
vindicative.
 
People
 
will
 
 –
 
and
 
should
 
 –
 
be
 
able
 
to
 
draw
 
their
 
own
 
conclusions
 
from
 
the
 
website/database
 
and
 
advocate
 
for
 
change
 
accordingly.
 
Example:
 
Texas:
 
http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/expendlist/cashdrill.php
 
 
LRB−1205/1RAC&PG:jld:md
2009 − 2010 LEGISLATURE
2009 BILL
A
N
A
CT
 
 to create
16.413 and 115.32 of the statutes;
relating to:
providing thepublic with information on state agency and school district operationsexpenditures and state agency and school district contracts and grants.
 Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
The bill provides that, beginning on July 1, 2011, the Department of Administration (DOA) must ensure that all state agency expenditures for stateoperations exceeding $25, including current and past salaries, pay adjustments,bonuses, lump sum payments, and fringe benefits paid to state agency employees,are available for inspection on a searchable Internet Web site maintained by DOA.Under the bill, DOA must categorize the expenditure information on the Web site bystate agency, expenditure category, expenditure amount, and the person to whom theexpenditure is made. Any person must be able to search on the Web site aggregateexpenditures for state operations by state agency, expenditure category, expenditureamount, and the person to whom the expenditure is made.The bill further provides that, beginning on July 1, 2011, DOA must ensure thatall of the following information relating to state agency grants and contracts isavailable for inspection on a searchable Internet Web site: a copy of the contract andgrant award or statement; the state agency making the grant or entering into thecontract; the name and address of the person receiving the grant or entering into thecontract; the purpose of the grant or contract; and the amount of the grant or theamount the state agency must expend under the contract and the name of the statefund from which the grant is paid or moneys are expended under the contract. Under123
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