I had contacted Republican Delegate Ben Cline a week or so back asking him about House Bill #1360 that he submitted in the General Assembly while in Richmond. This bill would require the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to establish an online database that would make it possible for a citizen to search\collect information on VA budget items.
Delegate Cline responded in a follow up letter with this:
“As you know, HB1360 would have required the Director to create the database by July 1, 2009 and when fully operational, all data in the database would be maintained for a minimum of 10 years. The bill would require the Director to work with the Auditor of Public Accounts and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to avoid any duplication of efforts. It is my hope this bill would establish a form of accountability in that it gave citizens the ability to see review budget items and collect information on where funds are allocated.”
“HB1360 was referred to the Appropriation Committee on January 9th, 2008. It was assigned to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Technology Oversight and Government Activities on January 18th. HB1360 was continued to a 2009 by a voice vote on January 30th, 2008. Unfortunately, this would mean that HB1360 will not be voted on during the 2008 session. However, we did include language in the House budget to direct the administration to begin preparations for such a system.”
It only makes sense that in the age of technology we now live in that we have the ability to view and track the way the Virginia government is spending our tax money.
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