PennWATCH law will shine light on spending

MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press

HARRISBURG — A measure that could expose a mountain of spending data about state government to greater public scrutiny went into law with little fanfare late last month, but implementing it has already raised significant logistical issues.

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 the Democrats. It became law with Gov. Tom Corbett’s signature on June 30.

The state court system has already begun a review to determine if it violates the constitutionally ensured separation of powers between the three branches of state government.

The site will be run by the Office of Administration under Corbett, a change the Senate inserted after the House had placed it under the state treasurer’s office.

By the end of next year, people should be able to go online to see details about every funding action or expenditure paid out with state or federal funds, including the name and address of recipients and the funding source. The site will also say how much state revenue was collected during the previous month.

Every month, the site will report the name, position and salary of every employee. After Jan. 1, 2013, it also will provide an annual listing for each employee’s total compensation, including any bonuses.

The information has to remain online for eight years.

There are exceptions for records that are not subject to disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law, or that pertain to specific provisions of state laws governing the retirement systems for state employees and teachers.

A second phase of implementation should result, by the end of 2014, in disclosure of descriptions of the programs being funded and performance measures.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Jim Christiana, R-Beaver, said his goal was to improve public accountability.

“This is the checkbook of the citizens of Pennsylvania, and they deserve to see where we’re spending it,” he said. “Because this is going to be complete transparency, it will change common practices of the people working in state government, the decision-makers, because they know we can be audited, 24 hours a day, by people at their home computers.”

The Office of Administration has begun writing system requirements and putting together a project team, laying the groundwork to implement the law, said agency spokesman Dan Egan. He said it will be a challenge to tie together far-flung computer networks.

“Just from a technology perspective, we don’t know what we’re walking into,” Egan said. “We don’t know what their systems are like, we don’t know how up-to-date they are, the differences in how they capture their data.”

The state court system has also begun looking at what the new law requires. In addition to the technical questions, some have raised concerns that it may improperly infringe on the judiciary’s independence.

Tom Darr, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, said that will ultimately be up to the seven Supreme Court justices to decide.

“What we will do is look at the issues, convey what they may be to the court, and it will have to, in its administrative capacity, make a decision whether there are issues, either constitutional or practical, that need to be addressed,” Darr said.

Also ahead will be decisions about how much detail will be on the site regarding the individual expenses of state lawmakers. Christiana said the bill gave the administration some flexibility to work through those types of issues with legislative leaders.

The PennWATCH bill did not attract any negative votes going through both chambers of the Legislature, but a series of Democratic-proposed amendments were voted down along party lines.

Some of the defeated amendments would have linked spending to specific legislative districts, required state-agency credit card statements to be searchable, and included information about state-bonded indebtedness.

“While some aspects of government spending will be more open, it’s a missed opportunity for greater progress,” said House Democratic caucus spokesman Bill Patton.

Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania, described PennWATCH as “a hopeful step forward.”

“If there’s a flaw in the law, I think it is the fact that it didn’t create specific criteria to determine how precise and how easy it should be,” Kauffman said. “We think it should be usable with any off-the-shelf spreadsheets.”

The final verdict on its effectiveness will have to wait until the site is operational.