Transparency will be CFO Atwater’s legacy
Sunshine is good for you. It’s good for government, too.
Florida is famous for its sunshine. Now, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater is helping the state earn a new reputation for spreading “sunshine” in the form of citizen access to public records.
This will be Atwater’s legacy as he leaves his Cabinet position after the legislative session ends to watch over the finances of Florida Atlantic University.
The Orlando Sentinel reports the state’s open-records law has nearly 1,200 exemptions, with another 56 proposed this year. But amid the darkness of constraint, there is a ray of sunshine: the Department of Financial Services website.
“Transparency ensures accountability, and Floridians have a right to see how every penny of the money they send to their government is spent,” Atwater’s website, myfloridacfo.com/transparency, states. By accessing the site, Floridians can scrutinize state budgets, payments and contracts and hold government accountable for how every dollar is spent. Amen. Atwater took office in 2011, overseeing state accounting and auditing. That same year, the consumer-advocacy organization Public Interest Research Groups issued its annual report card for online access to government spending data. That report ranked Florida a dismal D, just behind California’s D+. But, under Atwater, Florida moved up to an A- in just two years — a remarkable feat, when you consider the scope of the problem.
Ashley Carr, director of communications for the Department of Financial Services, says when Atwater took office, the state could not fully account for how many contracts it had in place, for what or for how much. The information was housed within separate agencies, with varying levels of transparency.
Atwater saw that nearly 75 percent of the state budget was tied to contracts for goods, services, buildings, land, etc. He believed taxpayers deserved to know exactly how their money was being spent. So, he put it all online.
Year after year, Atwater’s team has expanded the database’s functionality and worked to make it more user friendly. Consumers can even find scanned copies of contracts online through the Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System.
Reporters, business owners and Floridians all benefit from this website. It levels the playing field for businesses that wish to bid on state contracts by reducing the risk of backdoor deals made without proper procurement procedures. It gives taxpayers the knowledge to hold officials accountable for where tax dollars are going. Reporters use the site as a tool to research stories without having to file costly and time-consuming public-records requests.
Since 2013, Florida has maintained its A ranking while California has dropped to a grade of F.
Regardless of the weather, that’s the type of sunshine that’s always in season.