For the second year in a row, Ohio won the title No. 1 in the ranking in America when it comes to government transparency, state Treasurer Josh Mandel announced in a conference call Monday.
Just two years ago, The Buckeye State won Grade D in the annual spending transparency ranking of states by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. But thanks to their up-to-date online checkbook, which is an interactive spending database that allows citizens to hold politicians accountable, Ohio has quickly become the most see-through state in the country when it comes to spending.
Since taking first place last year, the site has been improved to include information on spending by the state’s five public pension funds, as well as about 650 local governments and school districts.
Ohio is the only state in America that currently has local governments and school districts online, which helped Ohio beat out Michigan, Indiana and Oregon this year — the three other states that scored 100 points on the US PIRG leaderboard. Mandel hopes all 3,962 local governments and school districts will eventually partner with the state to move their finances online.
“Ohio is once again a national leader in state spending transparency. But beyond its top spot, Ohio’s commitment to improving its online portal has encouraged other states to join the race to the top,” said Michelle Surka, co-author of the “Following the Money” report.
Mandel also seemed pleased that conservatives and liberals were unanimously focused on the online checkbook issue.
“Shedding light on the spending issue is not a partisan issue,” he said during the call.
Catherine Turcer, a political analyst for Common Cause Ohio, a left-leaning group, agreed. Spending, she said, “is not a Democratic or Republican issue. I find the site inspiring. … Ohioans are lucky to have a way to track spending.”
OhioCheckbook.com Launched in December 2014, it has spent $512 billion, or 139 million transactions, over the past eight years.
