MacIver News Service | August 31, 2011
[Madison, Wisconsin] The state of Wisconsin is not following state law regarding contract transparency according to a new audit released today.“Although some had expected the Contract Sunshine Web site to serve as an “open checkbook” showing how state agencies spend public funds, it has been of limited value in providing the public with clear, comprehensive, and useful information,” according to the findings of the Legislative Audit Bureau.
Wisconsin’s Contract Sunshine Act requires all state agencies in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to report their purchasing activities amounting to $10,000 or more in a fiscal biennium to the Government Accountability Board (GAB) for posting to a publicly accessible Web site.
According to state law, the information must be reported within 24 hours and must include the purpose, date, and estimated amount of each reportable transaction.
The LAB is a nonpartisan legislative service agency responsible for conducting financial and program evaluation audits of state agencies. Their reports are submitted to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and made available to other committees of the Legislature and to the public.
According to the Audit:
- Wisconsin’s Contract Sunshine statutes were enacted in May 2006 to promote transparency and fiscal responsibility
- Only minimal resources have been devoted to developing and maintaining the Contract Sunshine Web site
- Reporting has increased since July 2010, but information is not always complete, accurate, timely, or useful to the public
“Clearly, the previous Administration did not value openness and transparency,” said MacIver Institute President Brett Healy. “We hope the new Administration will fix the problems addressed by this audit, and we will aggressively monitor their progress along the way.”
The MacIver News Service is a project of the MacIver Institute.
Wisconsin’s Contract Sunshine Act requires all state agencies in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to report their purchasing activities amounting to $10,000 or more in a fiscal biennium to the Government Accountability Board (GAB) for posting to a publicly accessible Web site.
According to state law, the information must be reported within 24 hours and must include the purpose, date, and estimated amount of each reportable transaction.
In December 2006, the Legislature made $30,000 available to fund external development of the current Contract Sunshine Web site. It took an entire year before the site was launched.
Since late 2009 the GAB has had one staff member to spend 35 percent of his time on Contract Sunshine issues. They continue to contract with a Madison firm for Web site maintenance and is appropriated $11,300 annually for the Web site.
Ninety-five state agencies are subject to Contract Sunshine reporting requirements, however, not all state agencies regularly make purchases of $10,000 or more in each two-year budget period.
The Audit revealed that than 60.0 percent of all transactions posted on the Contract Sunshine Web site were reported only after the LAB began the audit. Only 12 agencies reported transactions in fiscal year 2009-10, but 38 agencies reported 2,526 transactions during the first four months of FY 2010-11, including several large agencies that reported to the current Web site for the first time in that year.
“We need to take the findings of the audit and strongly contemplate change,” said Rep. Samantha Kerkman (R-Randall), co-chair of the Legislative Audit Committee. “Transparency in government is important and should be able to be accomplished without duplication.”
Despite the failure of the state to comply with the 2006 law, a provision of the recently-passed state budget (Act 32) requires the Department of Administration to establish a new publicly accessible Web site that will report all expenditures for state operations exceeding $100.
The Audit Bureau recommends the legislature require the Department of Administration to report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by January 17, 2012, on the status of its efforts to implement the new expenditure, contract, and grant information Web site required by 2011 Wisconsin Act 32, as well as projected development and maintenance costs and the reporting efforts that will be required by state agencies.