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| PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 88 | PRINTER'S NO. 550 |
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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY BROWNE, PICCOLA, ROBBINS, ORIE, FOLMER, ERICKSON, SCARNATI, RAFFERTY, SMUCKER, EICHELBERGER, D. WHITE, VOGEL, VANCE, TOMLINSON, BAKER, WARD, ALLOWAY, PIPPY, YAW, WAUGH, GORDNER, PILEGGI, BRUBAKER, COSTA, GREENLEAF, EARLL, MENSCH, YUDICHAK, WILLIAMS AND FARNESE, JANUARY 12, 2011 |
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| SENATOR BRUBAKER, FINANCE, AS AMENDED, FEBRUARY 14, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Providing for the establishment of a searchable budget database- |
2 | driven Internet website detailing certain information |
3 | concerning State taxpayer expenditures and investments. | <-- |
4 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
5 | hereby enacts as follows: |
6 | Section 1. Short title. | <-- |
7 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Taxpayer |
8 | Transparency Act. |
9 | Section 2. Definitions. |
10 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
11 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
12 | context clearly indicates otherwise:" |
13 | "Agency." A Commonwealth agency, a judicial agency or a |
14 | legislative agency as defined under section 102 of the act of |
15 | February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law. |
16 | "Commonwealth agency." Any of the following: |
17 | (1) Any office, department, authority, board, multistate |
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1 | agency or commission of the executive branch, an independent |
2 | agency or a State-affiliated entity. The term includes: |
3 | (i) The Governor's Office. |
4 | (ii) The Office of Attorney General, the Department |
5 | of the Auditor General and the Treasury Department. |
6 | (iii) An organization established by the |
7 | Constitution of Pennsylvania, a statute or an executive |
8 | order which performs or is intended to perform an |
9 | essential governmental function. |
10 | (2) The term does not include a judicial or legislative |
11 | agency as defined under section 102 of the act of February |
12 | 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law. |
13 | "Expenditures." Disbursements of funds related to a grant, |
14 | contract, appropriation or any tax expenditure as defined in |
15 | section 624 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known |
16 | as The Administrative Code of 1929. |
17 | "Funding recipient." A person or political subdivision that |
18 | receives State funding other than an individual recipient of |
19 | State assistance or services or employee benefits buyouts. |
20 | "Funding source." The General Fund, special funds or other |
21 | Federal or State funds appropriated by the General Assembly, |
22 | statute or executive authorization. |
23 | "Person." An individual, corporation, association, limited |
24 | liability company, partnership, limited liability partnership, |
25 | limited partnership, nonprofit organization, educational |
26 | institution, political subdivision or other government entity. |
27 | The term does not include an individual recipient of State |
28 | assistance or services or employees benefits buyouts. |
29 | "Searchable budget database." A database-driven Internet |
30 | website that allows the public to search for and aggregate |
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1 | budget information. |
2 | "State audit or report." An audit report issued by the |
3 | Auditor General, a Commonwealth agency, including the Governor’s |
4 | Office, Office of Comptroller Operations, the Joint State |
5 | Government Commission or the Legislative Budget and Finance |
6 | Committee relating to a funding recipient, a budget program or |
7 | an agency. |
8 | "Treasury." The Treasury Department of the Commonwealth. |
9 | Section 3. Searchable budget database. |
10 | (a) Development.--By January 1, 2012 or six months after the |
11 | effective date of this section, whichever is later, the treasury |
12 | shall develop and implement an Internet website, available to |
13 | the public, that provides a single, searchable budget database |
14 | containing the data for the fiscal year 2011-2012 budget |
15 | required under this section. The treasury shall maintain the |
16 | Internet website which shall allow the public to search for and |
17 | aggregate data at no cost. The Internet website shall include |
18 | the following data relating to expenditures of $5,000 or more: |
19 | (1) The name and principal location or address of the |
20 | recipient of funds. |
21 | (2) The amount of funds expended or received. |
22 | (3) The funding source. |
23 | (4) The disbursing agency and the budget line item from |
24 | which the expenditure is made. |
25 | (5) A description of the purpose and type of |
26 | expenditure. |
27 | (6) The expected performance outcomes achieved from the |
28 | expenditure, if available. |
29 | (7) Past performance outcomes achieved from the |
30 | expenditure, if available. |
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1 | (8) Any State audit report relating to the funding |
2 | recipient, the budget program or an agency administering the |
3 | funding. |
4 | (9) All budget implementation data described in section |
5 | 620(a) of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known |
6 | as The Administrative Code of 1929. |
7 | (b) Hyperlink.--A hyperlink to contracts maintained under |
8 | Chapter 17 of the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known |
9 | as the Right-to-Know Law, that pertains to the expenditure shall |
10 | be provided where practicable. |
11 | (c) Exemption.--Records, material dates or other information |
12 | exempted from disclosure under 24 Pa.C.S. § 8502(e)(2) (relating |
13 | to administrative duties of board) or 71 Pa.C.S. § 5902(e)(2) |
14 | (relating to administrative duties of board) shall be exempt |
15 | from placement on the searchable database. |
16 | (d) Revenue reporting requirements.-- |
17 | (1) The searchable budget database shall include weekly |
18 | revenue reports for the General Fund and the Motor License |
19 | Fund. The weekly revenue reports shall be prepared in a |
20 | manner consistent with section 620(b) of the act of April 9, |
21 | 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The Administrative Code of |
22 | 1929, and given to the Treasury Department by each |
23 | department. In addition to the requirements set forth in |
24 | section 620(b) of The Administrative Code of 1929, the weekly |
25 | revenue reports shall include a comparison of the actual |
26 | collections of revenue with prior year actual collections for |
27 | each week. |
28 | (2) Notwithstanding section 4(b) of this act, the weekly |
29 | revenue reports shall be made available on the searchable |
30 | budget database within three days after the immediately |
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1 | preceding week. |
2 | Section 4. Updates. |
3 | (a) Time of updates.--Beginning July 1, 2011, and each |
4 | fiscal year thereafter, data, including expenditure symbols, |
5 | relating to the appropriations adopted in the general |
6 | appropriation act, nonpreferred appropriations acts and special |
7 | fund appropriations acts and all funds authorized by the |
8 | executive branch for that fiscal year shall be added to the |
9 | searchable budget database no later than 30 days following the |
10 | beginning of the fiscal year. The treasury shall add additional |
11 | data required under section 3 relating to the expenditure of |
12 | funds, as the data becomes available. |
13 | (b) Agency requirements.--Each agency shall provide the |
14 | treasury with all data required under section (3)(a) no later |
15 | than 30 days after the data becomes available to the agency. The |
16 | agency shall not be required to provide information that is |
17 | exempt from disclosure under the act of February 14, 2008 |
18 | (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law. |
19 | (c) Format.--Each agency shall create and maintain data |
20 | under this section in ASCII-delimited text file, spreadsheet |
21 | file or other file as required by the treasury. |
22 | (d) Data maintenance.--The treasury shall ensure that all |
23 | data added to the searchable budget database remains accessible |
24 | to the public for a minimum of ten years. |
25 | Section 5. Compliance. |
26 | The treasury shall not be considered in compliance with this |
27 | act if the data required for the searchable budget database is |
28 | not available in a searchable manner or is unable to be |
29 | aggregated or if the public is redirected to other government |
30 | Internet websites unless the other Internet websites contain the |
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1 | information as required under this act. |
2 | Section 20. Effective date. |
3 | This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
4 | Section 1. Short title. | <-- |
5 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pennsylvania |
6 | Web Accountability, Transparency and Contract Hub Act or as the |
7 | PennWATCH Act. |
8 | Section 2. Definitions. |
9 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
10 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
11 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
12 | "Commonwealth agency." An executive agency, a legislative |
13 | agency, a judicial agency, an independent agency or a State- |
14 | affiliated entity. |
15 | "Employment compensation." Payment, including gross salary, |
16 | overtime and bonus, made to an employee or officer of a |
17 | Commonwealth agency in exchange for services rendered to that |
18 | Commonwealth agency. |
19 | "Entity." Any natural person, corporation, association, |
20 | union, limited liability company or limited liability |
21 | partnership; any other legal business entity, including a |
22 | nonprofit, a grantee, a contractor and a sole proprietor; and |
23 | any county, city or other local government entity. |
24 | "Executive agency." |
25 | (1) Any one of the following: |
26 | (i) The Governor and the departments, boards, |
27 | commissions, authorities and other officers and agencies |
28 | of the Commonwealth. |
29 | (ii) The Treasury Department. |
30 | (iii) The Department of the Auditor General. |
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1 | (iv) The Office of Attorney General. |
2 | (2) The term does not include a judicial agency, |
3 | legislative agency, independent agency, State-affiliated |
4 | entity, State-related institution, political subdivision or |
5 | any local, regional or metropolitan transportation authority. |
6 | "Fund source." The General Fund, special funds or other |
7 | Federal or State funds appropriated by the General Assembly, |
8 | statute or executive authorization. |
9 | "Funding action or expenditure." A payment by a Commonwealth |
10 | agency made to an entity under the terms of a grant agreement or |
11 | for the purchase of goods and services, including payments in |
12 | cash, by check or by any form of electronic funds transfer or |
13 | deposit. The term does not include social services payments, |
14 | unemployment compensation, property tax or rent rebate checks or |
15 | any other payments offered not in regard to goods provided or |
16 | services rendered or not pursuant to a grant agreement but |
17 | offered as direct monetary payments for which eligibility is |
18 | determined in whole or in part by income level or economic |
19 | status. |
20 | "Funding source." The agency responsible for requesting, |
21 | authorizing or directing a funding action or expenditure. |
22 | "Independent agency." Boards, commissions and other agencies |
23 | and officers of the Commonwealth which are not subject to the |
24 | policy supervision and control of the Governor. The term does |
25 | not include an executive agency, judicial agency, legislative |
26 | agency, State-affiliated entity, State-related institution, |
27 | political subdivision or any local, regional or metropolitan |
28 | transportation authority. |
29 | "Judicial agency." |
30 | (1) Any of the following: |
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1 | (i) The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. |
2 | (ii) The Superior Court of Pennsylvania. |
3 | (iii) The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. |
4 | (iv) Any other court or other officer or agency of |
5 | the unified judicial system. |
6 | (2) The term does not include an executive agency, |
7 | legislative agency, independent agency, State-affiliated |
8 | entity, State-related institution, political subdivision or |
9 | any local, regional or metropolitan transportation authority. |
10 | "Legislative agency." |
11 | (1) Any of the following: |
12 | (i) The Senate of Pennsylvania. |
13 | (ii) The Pennsylvania House of Representatives. |
14 | (iii) Any other officer or agency of the General |
15 | Assembly. |
16 | (2) The term does not include an executive agency, |
17 | judicial agency, independent agency, State-affiliated entity, |
18 | State-related institution, political subdivision or any |
19 | local, regional or metropolitan transportation authority. |
20 | "Social services payments." Cash assistance and other |
21 | welfare benefits payments, education benefits payments, workers' |
22 | compensation and unemployment compensation payments. |
23 | "State-affiliated entity." A Commonwealth authority or a |
24 | Commonwealth entity. The term includes the Pennsylvania Gaming |
25 | Control Board, the Commonwealth Financing Authority, the |
26 | Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the Pennsylvania Housing |
27 | Finance Agency, the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, |
28 | the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, the State |
29 | Public School Building Authority, the Pennsylvania Higher |
30 | Educational Facilities Authority and the State System of Higher |
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1 | Education. The term does not include a judicial agency, |
2 | legislative agency, State-related institution, political |
3 | subdivision or any local, regional or metropolitan |
4 | transportation authority. |
5 | "State audit or report." An audit report issued by the |
6 | Auditor General, a Commonwealth agency, including the Governor's |
7 | Office, Office of Comptroller Operations, the Joint State |
8 | Government Commission or the Legislative Budget and Finance |
9 | Committee, relating to a funding action or expenditure, a budget |
10 | program or a Commonwealth agency. |
11 | "State-related institution." The Pennsylvania State |
12 | University, the University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln University or |
13 | Temple University. |
14 | Section 3. Searchable budget database. |
15 | (a) Development.--By December 2011, the Independent Fiscal |
16 | Office shall develop, implement and maintain a single, |
17 | searchable, public Internet website to be called PennWATCH. The |
18 | Internet website shall provide the annual appropriation |
19 | information and funding action or expenditure information for |
20 | Commonwealth agencies. Information on the Internet website shall |
21 | include: |
22 | (1) The name and address of the principal location or |
23 | residence and the applicable vendor identification system of |
24 | the entity receiving payment. |
25 | (2) The amount of the funding action or expenditure. |
26 | (3) The fund source and the funding source of the |
27 | funding action or expenditure. |
28 | (4) The applicable appropriation and appropriation |
29 | fiscal year from which the expenditure is made. |
30 | (5) A counter to show the number of times the Internet |
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1 | website is accessed. |
2 | (b) Additional data.--By December 31, 2013, the PennWATCH |
3 | website shall provide additional data, including: |
4 | (1) If an expenditure was made under a contract, a |
5 | hyperlink to the copy of the contract maintained under |
6 | Chapter 17 of the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), |
7 | known as the Right-to-Know Law. |
8 | (2) A description of the program under which the funding |
9 | action or expenditure is made. |
10 | (3) The expected performance outcomes achieved from the |
11 | funding action or expenditure, if available. |
12 | (4) Information for PennWATCH to offer a hyperlink to |
13 | any final State audit report relating to the entity, the |
14 | program or the funding source administering the funding |
15 | action or expenditure. |
16 | (c) Access.--The Internet website shall allow the public to |
17 | search for and aggregate information at no cost. |
18 | (d) Source tax and amount.--Except as provided under |
19 | subsection (e), by August 31 of each fiscal year, beginning in |
20 | fiscal year 2012-2013, the Internet website shall include the |
21 | source tax and amount of revenue received by the Commonwealth |
22 | for the previous fiscal year and such other information as |
23 | required by this subsection: |
24 | (1) The total number of individuals employed by each |
25 | Commonwealth agency for the previous fiscal year. |
26 | (2) Links to each Commonwealth agency Internet website |
27 | where available. |
28 | (e) Exemption.--Notwithstanding the requirements outlined in |
29 | subsections (a), (b), (c) and (d), the following shall not be |
30 | included in the Internet website: |
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1 | (1) Records, material data or other information exempted |
2 | from disclosure under 24 Pa.C.S. § 8502(e)(2) (relating to |
3 | administrative duties of board). |
4 | (2) Records, material data or other information exempted |
5 | from disclosure 71 Pa.C.S. § 5902(e)(2) (relating to |
6 | administrative duties of board). |
7 | (3) Records exempted from disclosure under the Right-to- |
8 | Know Law. |
9 | (f) Maintenance.--Information for a fiscal year shall remain |
10 | on the Internet website for a period of at least ten years from |
11 | the date of posting. |
12 | Section 4. Administration. |
13 | (a) Commonwealth agency requirements.--Each Commonwealth |
14 | agency shall cooperate with and provide to the Independent |
15 | Fiscal Office all required information at the time the request |
16 | for funding action or expenditure is submitted. |
17 | (b) Accuracy.--Each Commonwealth agency is responsible for |
18 | verifying the accuracy and completeness of the information that |
19 | it submits to the Independent Fiscal Office. |
20 | (c) Format and classification system.-- |
21 | (1) Each Commonwealth agency shall create and maintain |
22 | the information required to be posted under section 3 in |
23 | ASCII-fixed text file, XML or other commonly agreed upon file |
24 | format. |
25 | (2) The Independent Fiscal Office may require the use of |
26 | a classification system to allow consistent categorization of |
27 | different types of goods and services that may be the subject |
28 | of a funding action or expenditure. |
29 | Section 5. Submission of information. |
30 | (a) Employment compensation.--Beginning in 2012, by February |
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1 | 15, each Commonwealth agency shall submit information to the |
2 | Independent Fiscal Office providing the employment compensation |
3 | for each of its employees for the preceding calendar year. |
4 | (b) Required information.--Each Commonwealth agency shall |
5 | submit the following information to the Independent Fiscal |
6 | Office: |
7 | (1) Name of the employee receiving compensation. |
8 | (2) Amount of total employment compensation. |
9 | (3) Funding source. |
10 | (4) Position title. |
11 | Section 6. Vendor identification system. |
12 | (a) Vendor identification system.--The Independent Fiscal |
13 | Office may maintain a vendor identification system for mandatory |
14 | use by all Commonwealth agencies in order to provide a common |
15 | designation of each payee and to facilitate aggregation of data |
16 | on the public Internet website. |
17 | (b) Cooperation with agencies.--The Independent Fiscal |
18 | Office shall work with Commonwealth agencies in maintaining the |
19 | vendor identification system. |
20 | (c) Compatibility.--The vendor identification system shall |
21 | be compatible with existing systems within Commonwealth |
22 | agencies. |
23 | Section 7. Report to General Assembly and Governor. |
24 | The Independent Fiscal Office shall prepare an annual report |
25 | containing statistical information on the usage and performance |
26 | of the Internet website mandated by this act. The report shall |
27 | contain, but not be limited to, frequency of user access of the |
28 | website, types of data being accessed and website performance. |
29 | The report shall be submitted to the General Assembly and the |
30 | Governor by March 30 of each year beginning March 30, 2012. |
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1 | Section 8. Compliance. |
2 | The Independent Fiscal Office shall not be considered in |
3 | compliance with this act unless the data required for the |
4 | Internet website is available by the dates specified in this |
5 | act. |
6 | Section 20. Effective date. |
7 | This act shall take effect immediately. |
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