October 9, 2011

 

 

From The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc

Contact Susan Kniep, President 
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com

Telephone: 860-841-8032

 

 

  

The Yankee Institute, Former Farmington State Representative Demetrios S. Giannaros, and East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc

 

Leaders in Government Transparency in Connecticut!

 

 

The engines of government rely upon the fuel of taxpayer dollars to keep it running. 

 

Americans throughout the country have long struggled with costly and time consuming government policies when attempting to garner the information necessary to provide insight into where taxpayer dollars are channeled.   

 

Throughout the country, a demand is being made for greater transparency at all levels of government. 

 

In 2006, Congress passed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.  This Act of Congress requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007. The website USAspending.gov opened in December 2007 as a result of the act, and is maintained by the Office of Management and Budget.

 

In 2010, The Yankee Institute of Public Policy, a Connecticut think tank, served as the catalyst to bringing pertinent information to the taxpayers of our State, towns  and beyond, as they launched the Connecticut Sunlight Project to monitor government spending. The CT Sunlight Project was expanded during the summer of 2010 to include payroll and pension data for local governments and school districts in Connecticut.  In July 2010, the Yankee Institute launched the investigative reporting project Raising Hale to "uncover wasteful government spending" and "expose government corruption and abuse.”

 

With a desire for transparency by the State of Connecticut, Demetrios S. Giannaros, a Democratic member of the Connecticut House of Representatives,  proposed legislation requiring the creation of the site, transparency.CT.gov. The law was passed unanimously last year by both chambers of the General Assembly and signed into law by former-Gov. M. Jodi Rell.  The law mandates the state maintain an online searchable database of state expenditures.   

 

In April, the Arizona State Legislature approved one of the most sweeping transparency laws in the country captioned Comprehensive database of receipts and expenditures of state monies; local reporting; definition.  The law requires the State to establish and maintain an official internet website that is electronically searchable by the public at no cost and that contains a comprehensive database of receipts and expenditures of state monies.  The law expands that requirement to “.. each local government shall establish and maintain an official internet website that is accessible to the public at no cost and that contains a comprehensive reporting of all revenues and expenditures over five thousand dollars of local monies….”    http://www.azleg.gov//FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/50leg/1r/laws/0119.htm&Session_ID=102

 

This week, East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc, followed that concept and brought local government in Connecticut into the light of transparency.  

 

The Town of East Hartford’s website provides Taxable Wages, Budgeted Wages, 2011 Base Pay, Medical Costs and Town Checkbook .  Additional information is provided at  www.easthartfordct.gov ,  through the Finance Department. 

 

I personally, as the former Mayor of East Hartford and the President of the Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations who brought the proposal to Mayor Leclerc, commend her on her leadership in serving her constituents in East Hartford by setting the standards for transparency for all Connecticut towns to follow.  It is now incumbent upon taxpayers within all Connecticut towns to encourage their local elected officials to provide similar transparency. 

 

The Federation extends its appreciation to the Yankee Institute and its Executive Director Fergus Cullen and Policy Director Heath Fahle, former State Representative Demetrios S. Giannaros, and East Hartford Mayor Marcia LeClerc   for their leadership roles in providing the taxpayers they serve with the necessary tools to gain greater insight into the operations of the governments they support through their tax dollars.

 

To former Governor Rell, Governor Malloy, the state legislature, their staff, and the staff of Marcia LeClerc and the Yankee Institute, we recognize that the success of the transparency projects referenced would not have been realized without your efforts as well. 

 

Thank you.  You have set the standards for others to follow. 

 

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