MI Morning Update: Land joins Cox in promoting Government Transparency

By saul anuzis Posted in Michigan Republicans | Republicans — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

195 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land joined Attorney General Mike Cox in putting both of their department’s budgets on the web. The two Republican departments are leading the way towards “transparency” on behalf of the taxpayers. See the SOS press release below. Some 20 editorials around the state have come out in support of government transparency!

The Oakland County Republican’s L. Brooks Patterson “roast” was held last night. Wow, what a night. This event was a fundraiser to assist the GOP County Commissioners expand their majority on the county board. Congratulations to Oakland County GOP Chairman Dennis Cowan and his team!

Pizza and Politics was on the Road in Crawford County last night, helping to recruit precinct delegates. We had around 35 people in attendance from across northern Michigan. Party leadership from Lake, Roscommon, Crawford, Wexford, and Charlevoix counties were in attendance. We owe a special thanks to Hank Fuhs and Marlene Chockley for helping make this event a success.

A couple of folks sent me a link to this new website, Mitt for VP. Just sharing it with all you Mitt fans… http://www.mittforvp.com/

SAVE THE DATE: Our Max Fischer Presidential Gala Dinner is tentatively set for May 29th in the metro Detroit area. This is one of our major fundraising events designed to fund our fall Victory efforts.

THE REST OF THE STORY

MIDLAND — In response to an inquiry from the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Michigan Department of State announced today it would begin quarterly posting on the Internet of detailed reports of the department’s expenditures. The Mackinac Center’s request to the department was part of the Center’s new Show Michigan the Money Project (see showmichiganthemoney.org), an initiative to encourage state and local governments to make their checkbook spending directly available to the public.

“The office of Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has opened its books to Michigan taxpayers to an unprecedented degree for a state agency in Michigan,” said Kenneth M. Braun, the Mackinac Center policy analyst in charge of the Show Michigan the Money Project. “She’s placed online the department’s payments to the penny for everything from building leases to safety equipment.”

“I commend the Mackinac Center for its commitment to government accountability and taxpayer rights,” Land said. “The Department of State is proud of its stewardship of tax dollars and is pleased to take a leadership role in this cutting-edge initiative.”

The Center’s Show Michigan the Money Project was initiated on March 13, 2008, with the announcement of the “School Checkbook Transparency Project,” which aims to open up the check registers of Michigan’s public school districts and place them in accessible and comprehensible form on the Internet. The Center has also made available the collective bargaining contracts for every Michigan school district and other key transparency projects as part of its MichiganTransparency.org Web site.

The Center chose to approach the Secretary of State’s office before contacting other state departments because, as Braun noted: “This department has a diverse mission, handling everything from boat trailer license plates to campaign finance violations. If they can open up their expenditures, other state departments should be able to do the same.” Braun also acknowledged efforts by other Michigan agencies to improve transparency, including the online checkbooks posted by the Montrose Community Schools and the St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency, as well as the first steps taken toward spending transparency by the Michigan Office of the Attorney General.

The Center will seek to persuade other state departments to follow the Secretary of State’s example, starting with the Michigan State Police, Department of Human Services and Department of Corrections, each of which appeared to violate the state constitution in 2006 by overspending their budgets.

For complete post go to: http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/04/articles-of--22.html

Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
Chairman
Michigan Republican Party

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