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Maine citizens will soon have access to information on state government spending thanks to a new Web site proposed by Governor John Baldacci.
Maine will model the Web site after a recently launched, federally mandated Web site that tracks Maine’s spending of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Information is still being added to it, which is available at maine.gov/recovery. According to Maine Finance Commissioner Ryan Low, the finished state spending Web site will be fully searchable and have tools for exporting data into tables and graphs for easier viewing.
Low hopes to see the Web site up and running sometime in 2010, but it is still in the planning stages. He said he wants to implement the site in a cost-efficient way, which means working out any problems with the stimulus spending Web site first.
“We would encourage folks to take a look at the recovery act Web site, to go in and provide feedback and comments,” Low said.
Maine is one of few states considering a Web site like this, although Low expects to see other states follow suit during the next few years.
“If we can get this up and running in the next few months, we’ll certainly be ahead of most folks in the country,” Low said.
Access to government spending information may not always be positive, according to University of Maine political science professor Mark Brewer, who sees some problems with the spending Web site.
“Just looking at raw data about spending or appropriations doesn’t always give the full picture of what government is doing,” Brewer said.
He said without context, those who access the site could jump to conclusions, and policy makers and interest groups could use the data to their advantage.
“You can pretty much manipulate a set of numbers to support whatever argument you want to make that day,” Brewer said.
Brewer said that in a representative democracy, it is important for people to know what their government is doing, but it is just as important for them to understand it.
“Greater transparency is a good thing, but it’s not solely good,” Brewer said.
Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, agreed there is a nationwide trend toward government transparency, and she feels it is due to the recovery act.
“It has inspired a shift in the way we present state government across the board,” Cain said.
Cain emphasized the Web site must be easy to use in order to benefit Maine citizens.
“My hope is that there will be ways for people to access what they need and use the most in an easier fashion,” Cain said.
According to Cain, college students will benefit from the Web site.
“I am always directing college students to information that they need. Hopefully, if the Web site is user friendly they will use it for research or to answer questions,” Cain said.
Cain hopes Mainers will use the Web site to inform themselves of the many ways state government impacts them.
