Bill Would Require More State Data To Be Hosted Online
Submitted by Nevada News Bureau on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 10:31am
By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – More of the state’s financial data would migrate online with a bill from Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas.
He would require the Controller’s office to post the state’s revenues and expenditures online with tables, graphs and explanatory descriptions for each account.
State Controller Kim Wallin already hosts financial on her website, as does Gov. Brian Sandoval. Conklin, however, said that the current data-displays lack charts, graphs and year-by-year comparisons that his bill would require.
Adding these things would not cost the state any money, he said, but would make arcane financial spreadsheets more accessible to the public.
Nevada Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, speaks in committee at the Legislature. Conklin is sponsoring a bill that would put more state data online.
“Information is not readily available,” Conklin said. “It is very hard to find. … As some of you know in my private capacity, I do some economic research from time to time. … I can tell you from personal experience, finding good, usable consumable data is very, very difficult.”
Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-Las Vegas, who chairs the Assembly Government Affairs Committee that heard Conklin’s bill, said the bill would be like putting the state’s checkbook online.
Wallin testified in support of the bill.
“It’ll paint a picture,” she said. “A checkbook online, you look at your checkbook and it’s just a bunch of numbers … I think if we can start showing the trends of our expenditures, I think that paints a better picture.”
The committee took no action on the bill today.
