Transparency Florida Website Earns High Marks

On Tuesday, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released its 2013 Following the Money report, which gave Florida a grade of A-minus for overall transparency based on my Department of Financial Services’ Transparency Florida website. PIRG ranked Florida third in the nation for state government transparency.

According to PIRG, ‘No state made a more dramatic improvement in its letter grade this year than Florida.’

Jeff Atwater, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, stated, “Our tireless efforts over the past two years to increase government transparency and accountability for Florida taxpayers have been recognized. Last year, we launched the Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System (FACTS), making the state’s contracting practices transparent for the first time. We have maintained a commitment to improving Transparency Florida by making it more user friendly along with linking to partner sites to provide more information about government spending in Florida. All of these efforts are driven by one objective – to make transparency an inherent part of government in Florida.”

“We have worked hard to change the culture in Tallahassee by fostering an open government that promotes greater accountability and holds elected officials to a higher standard. This is the yardstick by which we measure the success of our transparency efforts on behalf of our fellow Floridians,” noted Atwater.