California Transparency Website Shuttered

A California government transparency website that originally made state government records more accessible to the public has been shut down.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) shut down the website Reporting Transparency in Government Nov. 2, partly because it had not been properly updated since former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger left office last January. Former Gov Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-08-09 stating that by June 2009 state departments were mandated to post audit data to the Reporting Transparency in Government website. In addition, Gov Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-20-09 mandating state departments to post information including accountability reports, evaluations, inspections and other activities to the transparency site as well. Last month, Gov Brown signed Executive Order B-12-11, which rescinded both S-08-09 and S-20-09. Executive Order B-12-11 mandated that agencies and departments provide as much information as possible on their various contracts through the eProcurement website. Brown’s recently passed executive order also requests that “other entities of state government not under my direct executive authority work to promote governmental transparency by making information about their contracts readily available to the public in a cost-effective manner.