Colorado: Gov. Ritter's Executive Order a Toothless Tiger

Thursday, April 2, 2009 6:03 PM

Today Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado signed Executive Order D00709 which instructs the Governor’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT) and the Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) to create and maintain a searchable database of state revenues and expenditures.

While this sounds like good news, critics are blasting the governor's executive order as "weak" and essentially "pointless" - and they have a point.

For one, the reach of Ritter's executive order is limited and can easily be repealed or augmented after he leaves office - which is a general problem with transparency brought to taxpayers via executive order.

However, what's worse, is that the Executive Order gives extensive discretion regarding what information will be made available on the site to the agencies in charge - and essentially builds in an excuse for them not to participate.  

Coloradans should be guaranteed access to how their tax dollars are spent without having to worry about changes in the political environment, and public records should be treated with a presumption of openness. Transparency efforts are best rewarded when they are enshrined in legislation that gives taxpayers broad access to the state’s finances.

The Appropriations Committee has the opportunity to put teeth behind the transparency effort by passing HB 1288, the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, tomorrow. We asked them to do so, regardless of the governor's executive order, and we hope you'll do the same!

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