HJ82: Budget database; House and Senate Committees recognizing need to establish searchable website.

HJ82

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 82 Offered January 9, 2008 Prefiled January 4, 2008 Recognizing the need[KP1] for the staff of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance to establish a searchable budget database website detailing where, for what purpose, and what results are achieved for all taxpayer investments in state government. ---------- Patron-- Marshall, R.G. ---------- Committee Referral Pending ----------

WHEREAS, a successful representative government must operate with the full support of its citizens; and

WHEREAS, there is a paramount need for all of the actions of the government to be transparent in order for its citizens to maintain the highest level of trust; and

WHEREAS, in addition, there is a need for citizens to be able to observe and review all legislative actions of government in order to be informed partners in government; and

WHEREAS, no action of the government has more effect on the people than budget decisions; and

WHEREAS, currently the biennial budget, which is the single largest individual legislation considered by the General Assembly, is extremely difficult for the ordinary citizen to understand or review; and

WHEREAS, citizens should be able to easily access the details on how the state is spending their tax dollars and what performance results are achieved for those expenditures; and

WHEREAS, to that end, the staff of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance should create and maintain a searchable budget database website detailing where, for what purpose, and what results are achieved for all taxpayer investments in state government; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly recognize the need for the staff of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance to establish a searchable budget database website detailing where, for what purpose, and what results are achieved for all taxpayer investments in state government.

[KP1]Format should be changed from bill to House Joint Resolution

Explanation

For a plain English description of this bill, comments, voting, tagging, etc., return to the main page for HJ82.

This is the actual text of the bill—the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books, but sometimes it’s proposing an entirely new law.

Words that are highlighted in yellow are proposed additions to the existing law, and words that are ~~crossed out in red~~ are proposed to be removed from the existing law.

The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state’s website.