The Colorado House Finance Committee, in an 11-0 vote, gave unanimous approval to send Rep. BJ Nikkel’s Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act (HB 1288) to the House Appropriations Committee. Ten people testified on behalf of the bill including Josh Culling from the National Taxpayers Union, Dave Williams of the Gadsden Society and COST’s own Amy Oliver.
There were three issues of concern for members: Why should this be in statute? The $72,000 fiscal note. Privacy. COST will address all of these.
First, why should this be in statute if the Governor has indicated he will issue an executive order? The answer is because the Governor has yet to issue the executive order so we don’t know what type of language it will contain. Also, even though Governor Ritter appears supportive of a state spending database, we don’t know what the next administration will do. An executive order can be rescinded or tweaked so that in the future the executive branch is excluded from transparency. A statute has to be repealed by elected members of the General Assembly — something that is much harder to do. Finally, as Representative Spence Swalm so beautifully articulated, the vetting process for a statute is much more transparent than the process for an executive order.
The cost. John Conley from the Office of Information Technology pointed out that the cost of putting this in statute is no different from the cost of issuing an executive order. As COST has proven before transparency doesn’t cost it saves — money, time and reputations.
Privacy. First the language of the bill reads that only information subject to CORA will be made available on the Web site. Also, Conley testified that he is not concerned with privacy issues because filters will be in place to safeguard the information.
Now the bill moves to appropriation. If you feel like sharing your perspective on transparency with committee members, a list of names and contact information is provided below. Also, consider thanking the Finance Committee for showing respect for taxpayers and approving HB 1288.
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