hb1161.html

08 LC 25 5141

House Bill 1161

By: Representative Chambers of the 81st

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, so as to require each department, commission, authority, and agency of the executive branch of government to provide certain financial reports annually to the General Assembly; to provide for the contents of such reports; to provide for the time of submitting such reports; to provide for the creation and maintenance of a website which provides public access to certain state expenditure information; to provide for a short title; to provide for procedures, conditions, and limitations; to provide for powers, duties, and authority of the Department of Audits and Accounts and the Department of Revenue; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:

"50-4-8.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'agency' shall mean each department, commission, authority, and agency of the executive branch of government.

(b) On or before September 30, 2007, and on or before September 30 of each following year, each agency shall file with the presiding officers of each house of the General Assembly and with the chairpersons of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight a report covering the immediately preceding fiscal year that contains the information required by this Code section.

(1) A statement of the tax revenues and operating revenues received by the agency during the immediately preceding fiscal year;

(2) A statement of the total expenditures made by the agency during the immediately preceding fiscal year;

(3) A list of all written contracts entered into by the agency during the immediately preceding fiscal year which call for the agency to expend at any time in the aggregate more than $50,000.00;

(4) A list of any employment or consultant contracts, whether or not in writing, under which the employee or consultant is to be compensated more than $20,000.00, including direct and indirect or deferred benefits. When a person or firm whose salary or fee is reportable under this paragraph shall have his or her compensation increased at any time, the amount of such increase and the total new rate shall be reported for the period in which the increase takes effect. The list of contracts shall state the anticipated amount of funds to be paid thereunder or the formula for determining such amount;

(5) A list of the names of each person, firm, or corporation that has received from the agency during the immediately preceding fiscal year payments in excess of $20,000.00, including the amount paid to such person, firm, or corporation during such period; and

(6) A list of consultant expenses and other professional services expenses; salaries and expenses of full-time and part-time employees and board members; and payments rendered by outside companies or agencies to the agency for any and all services. Social security numbers shall not be used as employee identifiers in these reports.

(d) The report required by this Code section shall be in addition to any other reports that an agency shall make to the General Assembly pursuant to other provisions of law."

SECTION 2.

Said title is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:

"50-6-32.

(a) This Code section shall be known and may be cited as the 'Transparency in Government Act.'

(b) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) 'Expenditure of state funds' means the expenditure of all appropriated or nonappropriated funds by a state entity from the state treasury in forms including, but not limited to:

(A) Grants;

(B) Contracts;

(D) Tax refunds, rebates, or credits;

(E) Payments made through economic and incentive programs operated by the Department of Economic Development, the Department of Labor, the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and the Georgia Lottery Corporation; and

(F) Expenditures from the Revenue Shortfall Reserve;

(2) 'Expenditure of state funds' shall not mean the transfer of funds between two state agencies or payments of state or federal assistance to an individual.

(3) 'Searchable website' means a website that allows the public to search and aggregate information identified in subsection (c) of this Code section.

(c)(1) No later than January 1, 2008, the department shall develop and operate a single, searchable website accessible at no cost by the public that provides information for each expenditure of state funds, including, but not limited to:

(A) The name and principal location or residence of the entity or recipients of the funds;

(B) The amount of state funds expended;

(D) The funding or expending agency;

(E) The budget program source;

(F) A descriptive purpose of the funding action or expenditure; and

(G) Any other relevant information specified by the Department of Audits and Accounts.

(2) In addition, such searchable website shall include the most recent lost revenues report prepared by the Department of Revenue in accordance with subsection (g) of this Code section. Such report shall be posted within 15 days of its release.

(d) The searchable website provided for in this Code section shall include data for the 2007-2008 fiscal year as it becomes available and each fiscal year thereafter. Such data shall be available on the searchable website no later than 30 days after the last day of the preceding fiscal year.

(e) All agencies of state government shall provide to the Department of Audits and Accounts such information as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Code section.

(f) Nothing in this Code section shall require the disclosure of information which is considered confidential by state or federal law.

(g) The Department of Revenue shall prepare or cause to be prepared a report on all provisions of state tax law that reduce state revenue through exclusions, deductions, credits, exemptions, deferrals, or other preferential tax treatments. Such report shall be entitled 'Lost Revenue Report.' The report shall be prepared by October 1 of each year and shall be submitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Department of Revenue may prepare and submit supplements to the report at other times of the year if additional or updated information relevant to the report becomes available. The report shall include, for the previous fiscal year, the department´s best estimate of the amount of state revenue that would have been collected but for the existence of each such exclusion, deduction, credit, exemption, deferral, or other preferential tax treatment allowed by law. The Department of Revenue may request the assistance of other state agencies as may be needed to prepare the report. The Department of Revenue shall be authorized to require any recipient of a tax incentive or tax expenditure to report to the department such information as requested so that the department may fulfill its obligations as required by this subsection. The Department of Revenue may require this information to be submitted in an electronic format. The Department of Revenue may disallow any future claim of a person for a tax incentive due to such person´s failure to file a report as required under the authority of this subsection. The Department of Revenue may consult with the Department of Audits and Accounts to develop a reporting system to obtain the information requested in the least burdensome manner on the taxpayer."

SECTION 3.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.