Senator Brogdon Says He’s Honored by National Recognition for Transparency Bill

State Sen. Randy Brogdon has won national recognition for his legislation known as “The Taxpayer Transparency Act.” Senate Bill 1, by Brogdon, would create an online database to show where every single penny of the public’s money is being spent. The bill was approved unanimously this month in the Senate.

A group called Americans for Tax Reform has named Brogdon to be the recipient of their “Friend of the Taxpayer” title. The organization is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups opposed to tax increases. Brogdon said he was honored by the recognition and humbled to have been singled out for his legislation.

“We are charged with being good stewards of the state’s resources,” said Brogdon, R-Owasso. “Making the appropriations process completely transparent and easily accessible to our citizens is simply the right thing to do, because in reality, every dollar the Legislature appropriates belongs to the citizens.”

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.

The measure has been assigned to the House Appropriations and Budget Committee.