Keep Ohio’s Online checkbook open to all for decades to come

Quick! Which Ohio government department spent the most tax dollars in fiscal year 2014 to meet its payroll? Simple. That’s the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, which paid out precisely $929,515,037.61 to meet its wage and benefit obligations to prison workers throughout Ohio.

Next, to which private company did Ohio dish out the most moolah in fiscal 2014? Easy. That would be the United Healthcare Group of Connecticut, which received $313 million to cover health insurance expenses for state workers. That figure, by the way, represents a whopping increase of $239 million from the $74 million it received from Ohioans in fiscal year 2008.

Those public-finance factoids, plus hundreds of millions of others, are available at the fingertips of all Ohioans easily, clearly and conveniently thanks to an early holiday present from state Treasurer Josh Mandel guaranteed to delight all advocates of transparency and accountability in state government.

Count us among those pleased about Mandel’s launch last week of OhioCheckbook.com, an easily searchable website of state revenue and expenses dating back to 2008. Mandel and his talented crew have made the work of millions of Ohioans concerned about how and where their hard-earned dollars are being spent so much easier.

“I believe taxpayers have a right to know how their tax money is being spent, and I’m doing this to empower the people to hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable. I subscribe to the notion that sunlight is the greatest disinfectant to government waste,” the state treasurer said.

Mandel’s metaphor is apt. The online checkbook, which took two years to complete and cost $814,000 to build, details more than $408 billion in state spending from 2008 to 2014 — and 3.9 billion pieces of distinct spending information. Such public visibility acts as a great motivator for public officeholders not to sidestep any foul-smelling spending practices that reek of waste and corruption.

A TOP-FLIGHT SITE

As a recent U.S. Public Interest Research Group report notes, “Top-flight transparency websites can save money for taxpayers, while also restoring public confidence in government and preventing misspending and pay-to-play contracts.”

By all accounts, OhioCheckbook.com is top flight. It’s been recognized as setting a new standard for all states to follow by providing considerably more checkbook-level data and functionality than the top three state online checkbooks — Indiana, Oregon and Florida — ranked by the U.S. PIRG.

With so much going for it, the online checkbook should become a fixture of state government for decades to come. Unfortunately the website today operates as a public-spirited initiative of Mandel and the state treasurer’s office. Its presence lacks the force of law.

Enter House Bill 174, which would codify into the Ohio Revised Code a requirement to keep the online checkbook active perpetually, regardless of the whims of any new state treasurer who may not view the value of transparency as clearly as Mandel.

Time, however, is running short to act. The bill remains captive in the Oho Senate’s State Government Oversight and Reform Committee and the state Legislature is scheduled to adjourn later this week. After two hearings, not one witness opposed the bill. It’s won support from such groups as the Ohio Newspaper Association, the Ohio Public Interest Research Group and Common.

Even if the bill’s passage rests on extending the session into next week, as some legislators seek, it would be well worth the time spent. Failure to act would send a wrong message to Ohioans that lawmakers do not value the long-term preservation of the public’s right to know.