Finance and Administration Cabinet
eTransparency Task Force holds inaugural meeting

FRANKFORT, Ky.— Gov. Steve Beshear’s eTransparency Task Force held its first meeting today to begin its charge to bring recommendations to the governor by Nov. 1 on the creation and implementation of a “one-stop” online, public information access tool.

The Task Force received testimony from Lee Tompkins, general manager of Kentucky.gov, on the efforts the Beshear Administration has already made to implement the governor’s vision.  Tompkins reported that an effort led by State Controller Ed Ross began in January and has already started the process of gathering information and data from every agency and department in government.

Task Force Chairman and state Finance Secretary Jonathan Miller unveiled a prototype of the full public access Web site that he hopes will be operational by the end of the year. Miller asked task force members to study other state’s fully operational Web sites for ideas on the structure of the Kentucky site.

Two of the state’s constitutional officers also presented their sites currently in operation that will help serve as the transitional bridge to transparency over the next several months.

Treasurer Todd Hollenbach’s Web site at www.kytreasury.com allows the public to access spending data from a range of government agencies, including Treasury, the State Auditor, and portions of the Transportation Cabinet.  Hollenbach said he will continue to update the site as information becomes available. 

Secretary of State Trey Grayson also demonstrated the posting of his office’s spending data at www.kysos.gov and encouraged other agencies to do the same as the broader statewide site is constructed.

Testimony from State Auditor Crit Luallen, State Controller Ed Ross, and Finance General Counsel Jeff Mosley revealed that it will take months of painstaking work and careful legal review to produce the final Web site. The state must protect confidential information, such as relating to minors, personal identifying or other secure or sensitive information.

Citing the need for openness in state government business, Gov. Beshear signed an executive order on June 6, 2008 to establish the task force to develop a plan to post on the Internet public information about state expenditures and state programs, such as contract information and expenditures in broad spending categories such as higher education and health care.

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