Pennsylvania House Passes Spending Transparency

The Pennsylvania House today passed HB 1880, by a unanimous vote. The bill would create an online, searchable database of all state spending.

We are told Gov. Rendell sent a memo to members of the General Assembly opposing the measure, citing concerns over the cost. We think the Governor must not have all the info. As our PolicyPoints on spending transparency discusses, the average cost of these websites is $160,000 (with many creating portals without additional costs), and the savings of transparency far exceed any costs.