Act 18 Jun 30 HB 15 Pennsylvania Web Accountability and Transparency (PennWATCH) Act

Tier 3 For Liberty All Members Unanimous Vote The Vote was unanimous in both House and Senate and will be graded All Members because all legislators and the Governor will get equal credit. PennWATCH Pennsylvania Web Accountability Transparency and Contract Hub allows anyone to track how the government is spending tax dollars using a searchable online database. This is a major step forward in bringing transparency to State Government and allowing The Forgotten Taxpayer to follow the money. The Pennsylvania Web Accountability, Transparency and Contract Hub, or PennWATCH, as it is known, was one of the first measures Republicans pushed out of the House this spring after reclaiming majority control from Democrats. It became law with Gov. Tom Corbett's signature on June 30. The Web site, which the Governor's Office of Administration will host, will launch by Dec. 31, 2012. The new Web site will include spending information; contractor data; state tax collections and federal revenue received; and the name, position and salary of every state employee.

web link Jim Christiana The vote was unanimous and, yet, under Democratic House Leadership, an identical bill (HB 1460 of 2009 also introduced by Rep. Jim Christiana) was never brought to the floor for a vote. A similar bill had been passed in Republican controlled Senate in 2009. There is a clear difference between Democrats and the new Republican Majority (to be distinguished from the Perzel Republican Majority). For some background on HB 1460 of 2009 identical to HB 15 of 2011, see State Spending Transparency Nathan Benefield Commonwealth Foundation 19 June 2009) and Spending Transparency & Accountability (Commonwealth Foundation 3 December 2009)

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