Senate Approves ‘Taxpayer Transparency Act’

The full Senate has voted unanimously in favor of legislation that will help Oklahomans see exactly how their tax dollars are being used. Senate Bill 1, by Sen. Randy Brogdon, would create an online database to show where every single penny of the public’s money is being spent.

“It is important to remember that every dollar that gets appropriated comes from our citizens,” said Brogdon, R-Owasso. “The public should have the ability to track how each and every single dollar is spent, because the bottom line is that it’s their money.”

Sen. Brogdon said the program will be modeled on a new federal law by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn which will allow citizens to track the use of federal dollars. Under SB 1, the Office of State Finance will be in charge of maintaining a searchable Website to let citizens see how state dollars are used.

In addition to winning unanimous approval in the Senate, Brogdon said he was also pleased to have Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, and Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre, as Senate co-authors.

“It’s obvious that there’s bipartisan support for this bill. Even Gov. Brad Henry announced his endorsement of the concept during the State of the State address,” Brogdon said. “I firmly believe that with this kind of transparency, everyone is going to work hard to become even better stewards of the public’s resources.”

SB1 now moves to the House of Representatives for committee consideration.