You Have A Right to Know How Your Tax Dollars Are Being Spent

As the weather continues to improve and we begin to see more sunshine, local residents will be happy to hear that there's more "sunshine" emitting from the state Capitol as well. By sunshine I'm talking about more transparency and openness in our state government, which has always been a goal of mine.

The nation recently celebrated "Sunshine Week," an initiative to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information. Members of the news media, as well as civic groups, libraries and schools, have a keen interest in the public's right to know.

In fact, "Sunshine Week" started in 2002 when Florida legislators underhandedly tried to create a number of exemptions to their state's public records laws.  Statewide news reporters protested, and so did the people of the Sunshine State.

Florida newspaper editors exposed the efforts on what they called "Sunshine Sunday" and the idea caught on as more states called for more accountability from lawmakers--demanding to know what the government is up to. The news media obviously plays a vital role to keep government honest, transparent and open to the people, and the efforts of the Florida news media are to be commended. 

And in honor of "Sunshine Sunday," a national Sunshine Week was officially born in 2005.

As taxpayers, you have the inherent right to know how your hard-earned dollars are spent. For many areas of our government, especially when it comes to the budget, it's difficult to find just how your tax money is used.

So why is there more "sunshine" emitting from Michigan's Capitol? We have redesigned our official state House website to give residents a vast amount of information about how we spend tax dollars in our individual offices. I certainly can't talk about the need for more government transparency without opening my office to public scrutiny.  The new website can be accessed at http://www.house.mi.gov

Links on the site allow residents to conveniently find out how the Legislature is allocating tax dollars, including the salaries and benefits that representatives and staff receive.

Making our state government more open and accessible to the people is incredibly important, especially as we continue our work to balance the budget. As a lawmaker, I want state government as a whole to be more transparent, so it's essential to lead by example and start making our financial records more easily accessible.

In addition to information about the House, committees and representatives, the site includes links to House TV, which provides live video streams of House session and committee meetings. It is a great way for people to stay up-to-date on issues and actions that may affect them.   

Please do not hesitate to give me a call if you'd like information on the status of any budget proposal, or any piece of legislation for that matter. 

(Mark Ouimet is the state representative for the 52nd District.  He can be reached toll free at 855-627-5052 or markouimet@house.mi.gov)