HB 1670-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
09/10
HOUSE BILL 1670-FN
AN ACT establishing a searchable budget database for state spending.
SPONSORS: Rep. Wendelboe, Belk 1; Rep. McGuire, Merr 8; Rep. Kurk, Hills 7; Rep. Bettencourt, Rock 4; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3
This bill establishes a searchable budget database for state spending to be established and maintained by the department of administrative services.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2555
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT establishing a searchable budget database for state spending.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Chapter; Searchable Budget Database for State Spending. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 9-E the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 9-F
SEARCHABLE BUDGET DATABASE FOR STATE SPENDING
9-F:1 Intent. The legislature finds that taxpayers should be able to easily access the details on how the state is spending their tax dollars and what performance results are achieved for those expenditures. It is the intent of the legislature, therefore, to direct the department of administrative services to create and maintain a searchable budget database website detailing where, for what purpose, and what results are achieved for all taxpayer investments in state government.
9-F:2 Short Title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Taxpayer Transparency Act.”
9-F:3 Definitions.
I. “Agency” means a state department, office, board commission, bureau, division, institution, or institution of higher education. This includes individual state agencies and programs, as well as those programs and activities that cross agency lines. “Agency” includes all elective offices in the executive branch of government and the legislature.
II. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of administrative services.
III.(a) “Entity/and or recipients” means:
(1) A corporation;
(2) An association;
(3) A union;
(4) A limited liability company;
(5) A limited liability partnership;
(6) Any other legal business entity including nonprofit organizations;
(7) Grantees;
(8) Contractors; and
(9) A county, city, or other local government entity.
(b) “Entity/and or recipients” does not include an individual recipient of state assistance.
IV. “Funding action or expenditure” shall include details on the type of spending, such as, grant, contract, or appropriations. “Funding action or expenditure” includes a tax exemption or credit. Where possible, a hyperlink to the actual grants or contracts shall be provided.
V. “Funding source” means the state account from which the expenditure is appropriated.
VI. “Searchable budget database website” means a website that allows the public at no cost to search and aggregate information for the following:
(a) The name and principal location or residence of the entity/and or recipients of funds;
(b) The amount of funds expended;
(c) The funding or expending agency;
(d) The funding source of the revenue expended;
(e) The budget program/activity of the expenditure;
(f) A descriptive purpose for the funding action or expenditure;
(g) The expected performance outcome for the funding action or expenditure;
(h) The past performance outcomes achieved for the funding action or expenditure;
(i) Any state audit or report relating to the entity or recipient of funds or the budget program or activity or agency; and
(j) Any other relevant information specified by the commissioner.
VII. “Shall” means the obligation or duty to perform; no discretion is granted.
VIII. “State audit or report” shall include any audit or report issued by the department of administrative services, the legislative budget assistant, a legislative committee, or an executive body relating to the entity or recipient of funds or the budget program or activity or agency.
9-F:4 Searchable Budget Database Website Created.
I. The commissioner shall develop and make publicly available a single, searchable budget database website including the required data for the most recent state operating budget. The searchable budget database website shall be updated monthly by the 15th of each month for expenditures and appropriations occurring in the prior month. In addition, the commissioner may update the searchable budget database website as new data becomes available.
II. The searchable budget database website shall also include:
(a) Salary information of full-time state employees.
(b) An “online checkbook” detailing all state expenditures, which shall have a feature allowing state expenditures to be sorted in categories by amount of expenditure.
(c) All available state contract information.
(d) All available state grant information.
III. All state agencies shall provide to the commissioner all data that is required to be included in the searchable budget database website not later than 30 days after the data becomes available to the agency. The commissioner shall provide guidance to agency heads to ensure compliance with this section.
IV. By January 1, 2011, the commissioner shall add data for the previous operating budgets to the searchable budget database website. Data for previous fiscal years may be added as available and as time permits. The commissioner shall ensure that all data added to the searchable budget database website remains accessible to the public for a minimum of 10 years.
V. The searchable budget database website shall not include the following:
(a) Any information that is not a public record.
(b) Any information that is confidential pursuant to state or federal law.
9-F:5 Compliance with Chapter. The commissioner shall not be considered in compliance with this chapter if the data required for the searchable budget database website is not available in a searchable and aggregate manner and/or the public is redirected to other government websites, unless each of those sites has information from all agencies and each category of information required can be searched electronically by field in a single search.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
10-2555
12/17/09
HB 1670-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a searchable budget database for state spending.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Administrative Services states this bill will increase state expenditures by $212,642 in FY 2011, $255,717 in FY 2012, $269,008 in FY 2013, and $283,151 in FY 2014. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or on county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Administrative Services states this bill requires the Department to establish and maintain a searchable database with ten years of historical data on state expenditure and budget information, detail on payments to state vendors, employee payroll, expenditures by state agency with associated funding, state contract information, state grant information with performance measures and outcomes related to the state budget, and any and all reports or audits issued by the Department, the Legislative Budget Assistant, a legislative committee, or an executive body relating to the entity or recipient of funds or the budget program or activity or agency. The Department states its Budget Office (DASBO) currently provides support for the submission of the agency proposed budgets for each biennium, and is responsible for ensuring the documents received from each agency during this process are available online. The Department states its Division of Financial Data Management (FDM) is currently responsible for supporting the budget system during the complete budget process and maintaining the integrity of the data housed in the integrated financial system as it relates to general ledger accounting and transactional reporting. The Department states its Division of Accounting Services (DADAS) is responsible for the audit process for all state expenditures, for providing guidance to state agencies through necessary accounting functions during the closing of the books each year and through subject matter experts for the various modules of the financial system, for the reporting of monthly state revenue, and for the compilation of the state’s annual consolidated financial statements. The Department states these three entities would bear the responsibility for carrying out the intent of the proposed bill and would be able to absorb some of the base costs involved in compliance with the bill. However, the Department projects additional staff and funding would be required to ensure that compliance was complete.
LBAO
10-2555
12/17/09
Although this bill does not establish positions or contain an appropriation, the Department states FDM would be required to hire a fulltime permanent financial data specialist II (LG 30) for coordination of the monthly public access publishing requirements, redaction of confidential information, data validation between the budget system and financial system interfaces, and direct daily contact with web support personnel. The Department estimates FDM would need additional funding for a separate server to support the internet application necessary for public access inquiries. The Department states DASBO would be required to hire an administrator II position (LG 29) to act as budget and expenditure analyst for the bill’s reporting requirements. The Department also states DADAS would be required to hire another administrator II (LG 29) to act as a subject matter expert for coordinating grant reporting and to ensure data integrity and accuracy of the general ledger. The Department also assumes the responsibilities of all three new positions would also include coordination of these reporting efforts with the other two entities within the Department to ensure consistency and completeness. The Department assumes this bill would be enacted into law July 1, 2010 and the additional staff would be hired on September 1, 2010. The Department also assumes each position will also require funding for additional supplies and technology hardware and software. The Department estimates the fiscal impact as follows:
FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014
Salary and Benefits $196,642 $247,117 $260,408 $274,551
Current expense $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000
Hardware & software $8,000 $600 $600 $600
Server $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000
Total $212,642 $255,717 $269,008 $283,151