Jun 26, 2009 2 min read

House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese joined a bipartisan group of legislators to support an online database that would track all expenditures incurred by state government. “As I ushered the state’s new Open Records law through the House last session, I did so with the strong belief that it would go a long way toward providing transparency on the expenditure of state tax dollars. This online database is a logical extension of that concept, and I am proud to co-sponsor the measure,” said DeWeese, D-Waynesburg. “The more eyes on things, the more self-correcting the process becomes – and when one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to fear.” One of the other legislators supporting the bill is freshman Beaver County Republican Jim Christiana, who proposed H.B. 1460.

The bill would create PennWATCH, which stands fro the Pennsylvania Web Accountability, Transparency and Contract Hub.

DeWeese said the bill would create a database where all state expenditures and contract information could be posted online in a central location where the public can easily access it. Ten other states have databases that offer similar information.

“A public state spending database would decrease the cost of running a state Office of Open Records since the public would have access to spending information on its own,” DeWeese said.

The bill awaits action by the House State Government Committee.

“I’m very pleased that this bill has attracted 102 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, exactly the number needed to pass a bill in the House,” Christiana said. “But it’s not so much pride of authorship as it is the urgent need to get this legislation signed into law.”