Governor Mike Pence’s office has recently created a website to promote state transparency.
Citizens will be able to keep tabs on state agencies online, tracking accountability in their goals and funding.
Indiana Chief Information Officer Paul Baltzell said the website brings together financial information from different state agencies in accordance with the governor’s primary goals, according to Indiana Public Media.
He also said the website is much more user-friendly than the prior one because of its “key performance indicators” that help viewers understand what is important.
Interactive graphics also help to visualize data when regarding budgets.
“You’re going to see the good, the bad and the ugly,” Baltzell said to Indiana Public Media. “So if there is a performance area that we’re missing, we obviously as an agency should dig deeper, right, as to what’s causing that problem. But we want to be transparent and kind of show where we’re at, so all the KPIs we’re measured on will be published up there.”
Indiana won the title of most transparent state government site by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group because of their previous transparency website.
However, Indiana Democratic Party chairman John Zody said transparency is a trait of the government the state needs to embody, considering its past. Zody said there are many area’s of the state that haven’t been honest about their funding in past years.
“The Department of Child Services has been ignoring state law and withholding crucial funds from parents who have adopted children with special needs,” he said.
Former Republican Superintendent Tony Bennett used state resources to run his failed re-election campaign, Zody said.
Zody also said the Bureau of Motor Vehicles overcharged citizens for years, which has come out in recent lawsuits.
“I hope this is the first of many steps Governor Pence takes to be more honest with Hoosiers about how he spends their hard earned money,” Zody said.
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said transparency is important for an effective government, according to Indiana Public Media.
“Because I think every administration would like to be able to operate in a way where they’re not having every single thing they do scrutinized, but in reality that’s how you get the best government,” he said to Indiana Public Media. “You need to everybody in there seeing exactly what you’re doing.”
Pierce said the legislature needs to “step up its oversight,” and stressed the issue of digging deeper beyond just recognizing the problems, to fixing them.
Sarah Zinn
