USA: Transparent State Government : Governor of Maine LePage announces launch of ‘Open Checkbook’ Website

Maine's Governor Paul R. LePage

The Gover nor of Maine Paul R. LePage has launched a new concept of financial transparency for state Government with what he calls an Open Checkbook Website providing the citizens of Maine access to basic, easy to understand information regarding state finances and government spending.
 
The governor announced the new website in his "State of the State address"  on Tuesday, February 12th.

“Open Checkbook gives Mainers information about how their taxpayer dollars are used by their local government including budget data out of government file cabinets and making it available to the public for the first time in an easy-to-access way,” Gov. LePage said in a press release Wednesday.

Through the new Maine Open Checkbook website, individuals initially will be able to research the details of state expenditures, including vendor payments and employee compensation. Next year, the state plans to expand the service to include revenue data and other details related to expenses. Future enhancements would include expanded analytics with graphs and comparative reports.

The European Union has a similar Website called "Transparency Portal" , but probably would benefit from adding some of the features of Maine's "Open Checkbook Website"..

EU-Digest