It has often been said that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” for the government.  Informing citizens about how bureaucrats spend their money will help to ensure that it will be spent wisely.  No effort has exemplified this principle more succinctly and comprehensively than the initiative undertaken by Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel (R).

Launched in December 2014, OhioCheckbook.com allows anyone to view all state transactions.  The website is searchable from big-ticket programs down to the granular details of office supplies.  It encompasses about $408 billion in state spending, spanning seven fiscal years, including 112 million individual expenditures and 3.9 billion pieces of financial information.  The site also features interactive charts, graphics, and compare tools that allow taxpayers to contrast spending both annually and among departments.

CAGW was aware of Mandel’s work from afar, but after he presented the details of Ohio Checkbook at a CAGW Policy Breakfast on March 25, 2015, CAGW saw the full potential of his achievement.

On April 7, 2015, Mandel took transparency a step further by asking Ohio’s local cities, counties, townships, and schools to place their spending information on Ohio Checkbook.  Within a week, more than 100 local governments responded to his request.  If such interest continues, Ohio Checkbook could allow taxpayers to account for every single dollar spent by every level of government in Ohio.  The initiative has already vaulted Ohio from 46th to first in transparency rankings.

In his April 7 news release, Mandel said that his “vision is to create an army of citizen watchdogs who are empowered to hold public officials accountable.”  The CEO of OpenGov, a tech startup partnering with Ohio Checkbook, gushed about the project:  “Ohio has already set a gold standard for financial transparency with its state-level OhioCheckbook.com database.” 

With trust in government at historic lows, initiatives like Mandel’s Ohio Checkbook give citizens and watchdog groups alike the ability to see how tax dollars are being spent.  If sunlight is the best disinfectant, Ohio has blown off the roof and let the sun shine through. 

It would be a welcome change to finally reveal the dusty, dirty, and wasteful tendencies in the federal bureaucracy.  Ohio Checkbook shows Washington, D.C. the way.