The transparency trend.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Report of the Association of Government Accountants

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Almost a third of online Americans surveyed in a recent poll are searching the Internet for information about how the government generates and spends taxpayer dollars, and most are disappointed, according to a recent Association of Government Accountants study. The study also showed that almost half of those surveyed are not satisfied with the information they receive about their state's financial management. They want understandable and timely information, and they want to be educated about state budget challenges.

Many state legislatures are beginning to make this possible. This year, more than half the states introduced spending transparency bills. Many of these bills are similar to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, passed in 2006, which requires access to all federal grants, contracts and other federal assistance, through a free, single, searchable website. State bills call for searchable web databases of all expenditures, or of state contracts over a certain amount, or expenditures by specific agencies or school districts.

Since 2007, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington have passed legislation requiring free, searchable websites with detailed and comprehensive information about state contracts or expenditures. Executive orders are responsible for expenditure information on state websites in Missouri and South Carolina.

Costs for these online databases vary widely, depending on many...