Jan

29

New session starts Monday!

Filed Under Uncategorized 

The 2010 legislative session kicks off Monday, highlighted by Gov. Brad Henry’s final State of the State address.  It’s going to be an interesting session that has a decided focus on the state’s budget.  But here are a few other topics OFRG will be closely following this session:

  • Defeating State Question 744 - while not something that can be done legislatively, OFRG will be working hard over the next 10 months to educate voters on the true effects of State Question 744 on the state’s budget.  This includes the launch of a website and speaking engagements around the state.
  • Ballot Access Reform - a measure that passed by a combined 128-1 in the House and Senate last session was vetoed by Governor Henry.  OFRG will work with lawmakers on a new version that will extend the period to gather signatures for a petition from 90 days (currently the shortest period in the country) to one year (the national standard) and will require signature gatherers to register with the state.
  • Transparency in state government - OFRG is proposing the creation of Open Books 2.0, an upgrade to the state’s current website devoted to state spending.  The new website should include a real-time check register and a searchable database.  Following up on our Blueprint for Transparency, we would like to see school districts put more information on the internet as well including detailed budgets.
  • School District Audit Reform - Districts get annual audits, but only 31 companies provide these audits and only rarely are the results posted on a school district’s website.  Also, the State Department of Education needs to have standardized accounting codes that remain constant throughout a school year.

And don’t forget that OFRG will be tracking bills important to taxpayers in order to create the LIST (Legislative Index and Scorecard for Taxpayers) which will grade lawmakers on how they vote on those bills.  We’ll be posting the bills that could be included in the LIST within the next week or so.  Be sure to come back to the blog often, check out our website as well and follow us on Facebook and Twitter throughout the session for important information from the taxpayer’s perspective!

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