Say Anything Blog

Democrat or Republican, a good idea is a good idea.  And Mitch Vance, Democrat candidate for Treasurer of North Dakota, has a good idea with his plans for a publicly-accessible website to document state government spending.

BISMARCK—Dem-NPL Treasurer Candidate Mitch Vance announced a plan Monday to transform the treasurer’s office to the people’s window into the cost of government.
“North Dakotans have the right to know how the government spends their money,” he said. “As your treasurer, I will give you a window into this process.”
Vance said he has a two-part plan to make this happen.
First, due to the non-partisan nature and positive response to his Price of Government in North Dakota report, Vance says he will integrate it into the State Treasurer’s office operations and put it on the official website.
The site will also be interactive and contain historic data, meaning that North Dakotans will always be just a click away from finding out exactly how much of their money the government has raised and where it is going.
For example, did you know that government in 2007 cost 14.1 percent of North Dakota’s average annual income, compared to a 10-year average of just 13.3 percent?
“You have a right to know what the government is doing with your money,” Vance said. “In the Internet age, there is no excuse for not having it readily available.”

Indeed.

Vance’s ideas closely mimic the Sunshine on Schools initiative executed by the North Dakota Policy Council.  Sunshine on Schools gives North Dakotans accessible, easy-to-understand information about school spending in the state (up to and including teacher compensation).  I would imagine that Vance’s website would do the same thing, and that would be a wonderful thing for North Dakota taxpayers.

In fact, it’d be such a great thing that I think whoever wins this election should implement Vance’s idea.  Again, a good idea is a good idea.