SB 105 Taxpayer Transparency Act

Opinion: Shining some light on Pa. spending

Harrisburg seems poised to make state government more accountable and transparent. Yes, that's right. Harrisburg. Accountable. Transparent. All in one sentence. This week, the state Senate is expected to vote on the Taxpayer Transparency Act, which would create a searchable Web site that would let Pennsylvanians track state expenses and contracts by June 1.
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Slow and steady on Sunshine Reform – Maybe this year

This week saw movement on Senate Bill 101, a bill to strengthen the penalties for willful violation of the state Sunshine Law. The bill is a good initial reform, but the opposition shows that more is needed. Read More...

Bills would boost spending transparency

At least 11 states — Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wyoming — are considering or recently have considered legislation to create online budget and spending databases. They could join more than a dozen other states which have passed similar legislation or issued executive or department orders since 2007. Read More...

Pennsylvania's Republican senators renew push for reform

HARRISBURG -- Senate Republicans launched a new effort Wednesday to enact 10 reform bills that died last term. Read More...

 GOP reform bills would post state spending on Web

HARRISBURG -- Senate Republicans envision a searchable database on state spending to allow people to look up specific purchases by agencies and across state government. Read More...

State GOP senators pushing 'legislative reform bills'

HARRISBURG -- State Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, says she wants to end "old-fashioned, pay-to-play politics" by stopping politically connected consultants from getting no-bid state contracts. Read More...

Senate GOP reintroduce reform measures

HARRISBURG – Senate Republicans reintroduced a package of 10 reform bills Wednesday, 9 of which were approved by the Senate but not the House last session. Read More...

Legislature sharing information online

From streaming video of debates to listings of obscure committee votes, the state Legislature has kept pace with a national trend and put more information online in recent years. Yet some watchdogs and lawmakers say the Legislature can do more to satisfy an Internet-savvy public in an era when government accountability counts.
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