Date: 04/28/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB09-1288

SENATE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt Amendment L.007 (Attachment B). The motion Pass Without Objection



03:21 PM -- House Bill 09-1288

Senator Kopp, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1288 which requires the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT) to create and maintain a searchable database with revenue and expenditure data from the state's Financial Data Warehouse (FDW), a tool that allows users to obtain information from the state's accounting system. Senator Kopp provided background information about the bill and an amendment he planned to offer to the committee. He also provided his thoughts about the fiscal note and gave the committee background about the federal government's work in this area.


03:29 PM

Senator Kopp responded to questions from the committee about the Governor's executive order establishing the Colorado Transparency online project. Discussion ensued about the provisions in the order. A copy of Amendment L.007 (Attachment B) was distributed and Senator Kopp discussed it with the committee. Senator Kopp responded to other questions about the database and the nature of searching for the information, and he answered questions about how often the web page would be updated.

09SenateFin0428AttachB.pdf

03:38 PM

Senator Kopp and the committee continued discussing how the information in the database would be organized and how it could be searched. He stated the income and expenses of the government would be provided. The committee discussed how the financial reports would be made available to the public and how state employees would implement the bill.


03:44 PM

Senator Kopp responded to questions from the committee about whether the Governor's Office disagreed with the language in the bill. He also answered questions about the bill's sponsors.


03:49 PM

Senator Kopp continued responding to questions from the committee about whether individual transactions by the government would be reported in the database. The committee also discussed authorizing the web-based system though an executive order or statute. The committee discussed issues of privacy, how much detail was necessary in the bill, and whether the bill provided a basic framework for moving forward with the online system.


03:55 PM

Senator Kopp continued discussing the bill and the executive order with the committee.

The following persons testified:

03:56 PM -- Mr. Charley Able, representing Lakewood Edge, testified in support of the bill. He stated that as a former reporter for the Rocky Mountain News and that he now has his own web-based news publication. He provided his thoughts about open records law, and stated that none of the information the committee has discussed is excluded from open meetings laws or from the Colorado Open Records Act, also known as CORA. He stated the issue is about access as much as how money is being spent by the government. He also expressed his thoughts about why the legislation is needed in response to questions from the committee. He stated that an executive order could be discontinued by the Governor at any time. Mr. Able shared his views about the "aggregate" language in the Governor's executive order.


04:04 PM

Mr. Ed DeCecco, representing the Office of Legislative Legal Services, responded to questions about privacy and security. He stated the executive order addresses this issue. He also responded to questions about CORA requests, and stated he does not know the level of detail of the information located in the Financial Data Warehouse.

The following persons also testified:

04:09 PM -- Mr. Joseph Tulty, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He stated that as a taxpayer, he believes that in these uncertain economic times government transparency is important. He also shared his views about taxes and cutting the size of government. He said that he has discussed government transparency issues with his neighbors. Mr. Tulty responded to questions about whether he had accessed the government's checkbook from the State Treasurer's Office.

04:12 PM -- Mr. Jack Ott, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He provided his thoughts about the Colorado Constitution, specifically Article III. Mr. Ott also provided his thoughts about a court case impacting separation of powers, the Governor's executive order, and aggregated versus detailed data and information. He stated that the responsibility for transparency is with the legislative branch of government. Mr. Ott responded to questions about aggregated or detailed data.

A copy of the order signed by Governor Bill Ritter, entitled "Executive Order D 007 09 Establishing the Colorado Transparency Online Project," dated April 2, 2009, was distributed to the committee (Attachment C).

09SenateFin0428AttachC.pdf


04:21 PM

Discussion continued with Mr. Ott about aggregated or detailed data.


04:22 PM

Senator Sandoval closed public testimony.
BILL:HB09-1288
TIME: 04:22:35 PM
MOVED:King K.
MOTION:Adopt Amendment L.007 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Heath
Isgar
King K.
Scheffel
Hudak
Sandoval
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection



04:23 PM

Senator Kopp responded to questions from the committee about why the Governor's Office was not in attendance. The committee also continued discussing the bill and CORA with Senator Kopp.


04:32 PM

Senator Kopp also responded to questions about the intent of the bill, the fiscal note, Amendment L.007, and the executive order.


04:37 PM

The committee continued discussing the bill, its language, and potential amendments to Amendment L.007.


04:39 PM

Mr. Ed DeCecco, representing the Office of Legislative Legal Services, returned to the table and discussed Amendment L.007. He responded to questions about how the bill would affect the executive order.


04:44 PM

The committee continued discussing how to move forward. The Chair laid the bill over.