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Contract Sunshine Act Report 11-11. Legislative Audit Bureau October 13, 2011. Contract Sunshine Funding. Only minimal resources have been devoted to Contract Sunshine. GAB has never requested additional funding for the Web site.
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Contract Sunshine ActReport 11-11 Legislative Audit Bureau October 13, 2011
Contract Sunshine Funding Only minimal resources have been devoted to Contract Sunshine. • GAB has never requested additional funding for the Web site. • The Legislature has appropriated $11,300 in GPR annually to GAB. • One GAB staff member spends 35 percent of his time on Contract Sunshine issues.
Reporting Levels Agencies have reported more information to the Web site in recent years. • In the first four months of FY 2010-11, 38 agencies reported 2,526 transactions. • In FY 2009-10, 12 agencies reported 853 transactions.
Reporting Challenges The Web site has design limitations that hinder some agency reporting. Agencies are uncertain of their reporting requirements. GAB’s instructions to agencies have affected reporting.
Reporting Timeliness From July through October 2010: • 11.4 percent of 1,841 transactions were reported within the required 24 hours. • Almost two-thirds of transactions were reported ten days or more after the transactions had occurred.
Reported Information’s Usefulness The Contract Sunshine Act: • requires agencies to report the estimated value of transactions, not the actual values; and • does not require agencies to report vendor names.
Other Web Sites Agencies report similar purchasing information to at least nine other Web sites, which: • makes it challenging for the public to understand how State funds are spent; and • results in duplicative reporting by agencies.
New Web Site’s Implementation The Legislature has directed DOA to implement a new expenditure, contract, and grant information Web site. This new Web site could be more useful than the Contract Sunshine Web site for public monitoring of government purchasing.
Future Considerations After DOA provides additional information, the Legislature could either: • repeal Contract Sunshine statutes; or • modify statutes to improve Contract Sunshine’s usefulness to the public.