The Maine Freedom of Information Coalition on Monday presented its second annual Maine Sunshine Award to the Maine Heritage Policy Center for its creation of a Web site that tracks state government spending.
The Web site, www.MaineOpengov.org, tracks payrolls, pension payments and checks written by the state to individuals and businesses. Tarren Bragdon, the Maine Heritage Policy Center’s chief executive officer, said the site has had 44,000 visitors since it was launched last September.
“Taxpayers have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent, down to the agency, person and penny,” said Bragdon in a press release. The Maine Heritage Policy Center is a think tank dedicated to developing and promoting conservative public policy.
Mal Leary, president of the coalition, said choosing the winner this year was easy, given the breadth of the policy center’s project.
“Quite frankly, the Maine Heritage Policy Center jumped right to the front,” said Leary.
The presentation of the Sunshine Award coincided with the nationwide observance of Freedom of Information Day and the start of Sunshine Week. The Sunshine Award is meant to honor a person or organization who champions the public’s right to know in any of several venues.
Bragdon said this project is sustained exclusively through private donations to the center, which last year collected $1.15 million from 800 contributors. He said plans are in the works to expand what the Web site offers.
He said the site will soon feature blogs – both anonymous and bylined – as well as the following:
– “On-the-fly analysis” of public policy decisions being made by the Legislature;
– Detailed information on spending by 10 local governments in Maine, which Bragdon said he couldn’t identify at this time;
– Financial data on the University of Maine System;
– Medicaid claims payments to service providers for the past three years;
– Detailed information on state revenue;
– A town-by-town breakdown of receipts of sales tax, income and excise taxes.
“This isn’t just a one-time project,” said Bragdon.
Maine Freedom of Information Coalition Vice President Judy Meyer hailed the center’s efforts.
“As Mainers pinch pennies in their own homes, they deserve to know how the state is spending the public’s money,” she said.
(Statehouse News Service)
