| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to transparency in government spending; |
| 3 | creating s. 215.985, F.S.; providing a short title; |
| 4 | providing definitions; requiring the Department of |
| 5 | Financial Services to establish a specified website; |
| 6 | requiring the website to include specified information |
| 7 | relating to annual expenditures, revenues, and bonded |
| 8 | indebtedness for governmental entities; specifying |
| 9 | requirements for data submission and retention; requiring |
| 10 | governmental entities to provide certain information to |
| 11 | the department; providing an exemption for specified local |
| 12 | governments; providing an exemption for specified |
| 13 | information; requiring the Office of Program Policy |
| 14 | Analysis and Government Accountability to prepare an |
| 15 | annual report; providing report requirements; requiring |
| 16 | the report to be submitted to the Governor and the |
| 17 | Legislature by a specified date; authorizing the |
| 18 | department to adopt rules; providing an effective date. |
| 19 |
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| 20 | WHEREAS, shining a light on government spending and |
| 21 | bringing openness into state and local government spending will |
| 22 | lead to greater accountability for the taxpayers of this state, |
| 23 | and |
| 24 | WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that taxpayers are entitled |
| 25 | to full and complete information about how their hard-earned tax |
| 26 | dollars are spent, and |
| 27 | WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature to provide |
| 28 | taxpayers with access to information on how the state and local |
| 29 | governments are spending their tax dollars, and |
| 30 | WHEREAS, there is currently no single, easily accessible |
| 31 | searchable website that allows taxpayers to track state and |
| 32 | local government revenues and expenditures, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 33 |
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| 34 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 35 |
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| 36 | Section 1. Section 215.985, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 37 | to read: |
| 38 | 215.985 Transparency in government spending.-- |
| 39 | (1) This section may be cited as the "Track Your Taxes - |
| 40 | The Florida Budget Openness Act." |
| 41 | (2) As used in this section: |
| 42 | (a) "Department" means the Department of Financial |
| 43 | Services. |
| 44 | (b) "Governmental entity" means any state, regional, |
| 45 | county, municipal, special district, or other local governmental |
| 46 | entity of this state, whether executive, judicial, or |
| 47 | legislative, including, but not limited to, any department, |
| 48 | division, bureau, commission, authority, district, or agency |
| 49 | thereof or any public school district, community college, state |
| 50 | university, or board associated therewith. |
| 51 | (c) "Searchable website" means a website that is easily |
| 52 | accessible to the public and is searchable, at a minimum, by the |
| 53 | issues or entities identified in subsection (3) in an itemized |
| 54 | or aggregate form, is accessible at no cost to the public, and |
| 55 | does not require the user to provide any information. |
| 56 | (3) Effective July 1, 2010, the department shall establish |
| 57 | a single, searchable website directly accessible through the |
| 58 | official Internet portal of the state that includes: |
| 59 | (a) Access to information for each expenditure made by |
| 60 | each governmental entity, including, but not limited to: |
| 61 | 1. Disbursements by the governmental entity from funds |
| 62 | established within the treasury of the governmental entity. |
| 63 | 2. Bond debt payments. |
| 64 | 3. Salaries and wages, including, but not limited to, |
| 65 | compensation paid to individual employees of the governmental |
| 66 | entity. |
| 67 | 4. Contractual services, including, but not limited to, |
| 68 | amounts paid to individual vendors. |
| 69 | 5. Commodities, including, but not limited to, amounts |
| 70 | paid to individual vendors. |
| 71 | 6. Capital outlay, including, but not limited to, amounts |
| 72 | paid to individual vendors. |
| 73 | 7. Debt service, including, but not limited to, amounts of |
| 74 | bond interest paid and sources of funds paid for individual bond |
| 75 | issues. |
| 76 | 8. Aid to local units, including, but not limited to, |
| 77 | amounts paid to individual units of government for individually |
| 78 | identifiable aid programs. |
| 79 | 9. Other assistance and benefits. |
| 80 | 10. Capital improvements, including, but not limited to, |
| 81 | amounts of bond principal paid and sources of funds paid for |
| 82 | individual bond issues. |
| 83 | |
| 84 | All expenditures shall list the name of the payee, the date of |
| 85 | the expenditure, the amount of the expenditure, and the purpose |
| 86 | of the expenditure. When the expenditure is made pursuant to a |
| 87 | contract, the governmental entity shall provide the department |
| 88 | with an electronic copy of the contract. The single website |
| 89 | shall provide a link to the contract under any expenditure made |
| 90 | under the contract. |
| 91 | (b) Access to information for each revenue received by |
| 92 | each governmental entity, including, but not limited to: |
| 93 | 1. Receipts or deposits by the governmental entity into |
| 94 | funds established within the treasury of the governmental |
| 95 | entity. |
| 96 | 2. Taxes, including, but not limited to, compulsory |
| 97 | contributions imposed by the governmental entity for the purpose |
| 98 | of financing services. |
| 99 | 3. Governmental entity earnings, including, but not |
| 100 | limited to, amounts collected for merchandise sold, services |
| 101 | performed, licenses and permits issued, or regulation. |
| 102 | 4. Revenue for the use of money and property, including, |
| 103 | but not limited to, amounts received for compensation for the |
| 104 | use of money and property owned by the governmental entity. |
| 105 | 5. Gifts, donations, and federal grants, including, but |
| 106 | not limited to, amounts received from public and private |
| 107 | entities to aid in support of a specific function or other |
| 108 | governmental activity. |
| 109 | 6. Other revenue, including, but not limited to, receipts |
| 110 | not classified elsewhere. |
| 111 | 7. Nonrevenue receipts, including, but not limited to, all |
| 112 | receipts that do not constitute revenue. |
| 113 | |
| 114 | All revenues shall list the name of the payor, the date of the |
| 115 | revenue, the amount of the revenue, and the purpose of the |
| 116 | revenue. |
| 117 | (c) Access to each governmental entity's bonded |
| 118 | indebtedness information, including, but not limited to, the |
| 119 | total amount of obligation stated in terms of principal and |
| 120 | interest, including an itemization of each obligation, the term |
| 121 | of each obligation, the source of funding for repayment of each |
| 122 | obligation, the amounts of principal and interest previously |
| 123 | paid to reduce each obligation, the balance remaining of each |
| 124 | obligation, any refinancing of any obligation, and the cited |
| 125 | statutory authority to issue such bonds. |
| 126 | (d) A counter on the website to show the number of times |
| 127 | the website has been accessed. |
| 128 | (e) Links to all governmental entity websites. |
| 129 | (4) The single website shall include data for the 2010- |
| 130 | 2011 fiscal year for state governmental entities, data for the |
| 131 | 2011-2012 fiscal year or calendar years, as applicable, for all |
| 132 | other governmental entities, and data for each fiscal or |
| 133 | calendar year thereafter for all governmental entities. Data |
| 134 | shall be retained on the website for at least 10 years. Data |
| 135 | shall be on the single website as soon as possible, but not |
| 136 | later than 45 days after the end of each fiscal quarter. |
| 137 | (5) All governmental entities shall provide information |
| 138 | necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section and shall |
| 139 | provide a link from their websites, if applicable, to the |
| 140 | website established by the department. |
| 141 | (6) Any municipality, including any department, division, |
| 142 | bureau, commission, authority, district, or agency thereof, |
| 143 | having a population of 10,000 or less is exempt from this |
| 144 | section. Population figures used for the purposes of this |
| 145 | subsection shall be the most recent population estimates |
| 146 | prepared pursuant to s. 186.901. |
| 147 | (7) This section does not permit or require the disclosure |
| 148 | of information that is considered confidential by state or |
| 149 | federal law. |
| 150 | (8) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government |
| 151 | Accountability shall prepare an annual report detailing the |
| 152 | progress in implementing the single website and providing |
| 153 | recommendations for enhancement of the content and format of the |
| 154 | single website and related policies and procedures. The report |
| 155 | shall be submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, |
| 156 | and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, no later than |
| 157 | November 1, 2011, and November 1 of each year thereafter. |
| 158 | (9) The department may adopt rules pursuant to ss. |
| 159 | 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this section. |
| 160 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |