http://transparency.i2i.org Transparency for Colorado | No Taxation Without Information Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:44:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Transparency: quality or state of being clear, transparent; also frank, candid, free from deceit. COST believes that most Coloradans have come to understand transparency in government as detailed expenditure and revenue information. With those definitions in mind, it is laughable that the Colorado State Treasurer's Office called its latest interactive endeavor "Tax Tracks" ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/03/08/transparency-propaganda/ Facing substantial budget cuts, Colorado's K-12 education establishment may have to rethink how it spends money courtesy of the transparency movement we have championed.  Using transparency Web sites from Jeffco and Douglas County Schools as well as information from Denver Public Schools, the Denver Post found "found millions of dollars ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/03/01/post-puts-k-12-spending-under-microscope/ Coloradans should beware the "Transparency Trojan Horse" that will create a database containing their most personal health care information, according to an Independence Institute analysis of HB 1330 the Health Care Cost Transparency Act sponsored by State Representative John Kefalas and Senator John Morse. Health Care Policy Center Director Linda Gorman warns that the ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/02/25/all-payer-database-transparency-trojan-horse/ Taxpayers may think they are the only ones footing the bill for government spending.  State Representative Amy Stephens discovered that gifts, grants and donations are often used to fund interim committees and pilot programs established in various pieces of legislation. Stephens bill, HB 10 1178 directs any state agency that receives ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/02/23/paying-for-government/ Taxpayers sponsored commuting for state employees will be a thing a of past if State Representative Kent Lambert and State Senator Bill Cadman get their way.  Lambert and Cadman are the prime sponsors of HB10-1287, legislation "concerning the use of state-owned vehicles for commuting purposes." If passed the bill would put ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/02/18/update-no-more-free-rides/ State Representative and Joint Budget Committee member Kent Lambert wants to put the brakes on state employees using taxpayer funded vehicles for their personal commute to and from work.  The Associated Press quoted Lambert,  "Nobody else in state government is getting a free ride to work, and they shouldn't be ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/02/03/no-more-free-rides-for-state-employees/ Residents of the Poudre School District in Fort Collins realize that transparency means more than financial.  The Fort Collins Coloradoan and some taxpayers are demanding more transparency when it comes to school district policies.   According to Coloradoan editor Bob Moore, the district's deliberate withholding of information about the arrests of two employees was unlike ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/02/02/transparency-more-than-just-financial/ Another aspect of transparency allows the public enough time to review and comment on legislation.  Both Governor Bill Ritter and President Barack Obama show the same lack of respect for those paying the bills.  We don't even get to review the bills that affect our lives and wallets. Candidate Obama promised ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/01/24/ritter-and-obama-same-lack-of-respect-for-taxpayers/ Some Colorado school districts aren't waiting for the General Assembly to mandate financial transparency.  Greeley Evans School District Six in Northern Colorado has placed its check reigstry online. But most impressive is what Colorado's largest school district Jeffco Public Schools has provided for taxpayers on its financial transparency Web page.  Interested ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/01/20/colorado-school-districts-school-state-on-transparency/ State Representative and Joint Budget Committee member Kent Lambert provides a tremendous amount of information about the state budget and spending on his Web site.  COST enjoyed digging through a database on state government vehicles.  According to the database, taxpayers have purchased 5534 vehicles over the course of many years.  What's ... http://transparency.i2i.org/2010/01/11/go-on-take-a-free-ride/