Federal funds transparency legislation signed into law

Oklahomans will now be able to see what federal funds state agencies receive each year and how that money is being used thanks to legislation signed into law Monday afternoon. Sen. Greg Treat is the author of Senate Bill 1342, which he says will also help legislators be able to better gauge the financial needs of agencies when crafting the state’s annual budget.

“State government consumes over $24 billion annually. The federal pass through monies account for nearly $7 billion of this total. When legislators are crafting a budget that tries to balance priorities it is extremely important that we know the true and total revenue picture of state agencies and, more importantly, it’s critical that taxpayers who foot the bill for federal and state revenue know the real story,” said Treat, R-Oklahoma City. “I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate and House as well as Governor Fallin for their support of this important reform. I also appreciate Rep. Tom Newell’s leadership on the House side to bring transparency to federal dollars.”

SB 1342 requires the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to make modifications to the website required by the Taxpayer Transparency Act to give users the ability to track expenditures of federal funds by state agencies.

Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman said the new law will help in the budgeting process.

“Greater transparency in the amount of federal funds flowing into the state each year allows lawmakers to hold agencies accountable for how they spend our tax dollars. It also gives lawmakers a more complete picture of state spending as they craft a balanced budget,” said Bingman, R-Sapulpa. “Senator Treat deserves credit for this bill because it provides the public and policymakers more transparency into the state budget.”

The new law will go into effect January 1, 2017.