Last year my colleagues and I were proud to support a bill that Governor O'Malley signed into law that promotes transparency of state agency spending. The law requires that details of state agency spending be posted on a searchable web site. The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support. It was modeled after a federal law that President Obama had sponsored when he was serving as a U.S. Senator.
Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner has introduced legislation that would provide transparency for County Agency spending.
This year I am sponsoring state legislation that would bring the same transparency to Montgomery County Public Schools spending. If MC930-09 is enacted, MCPS would be required to develop a searchable web site on which are listed payments to any party who receives an aggregate payment of $10,000 or more in a fiscal year. The annual budget of the Montgomery County School Board is around $2 Billion which is almost as much as the budget for some entire state governments.
The hearing for this bill will be on Friday, January 30th at 9:30am at the Lowe House Office Building, 6 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD 21401. Click here for more information.
If you would like to testify, please contact my office at 301 858-3110 or at alfred.carr@house.state.md.us.
You may also contact your Montgomery County Delegates and Senator to voice your opinion about this legislation.
The Montgomery County Board of Education discussed this proposal at their January 13th meeting:
