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April 01, 2003 Riley Keeps Pledge to Provide Unprecedented Disclosure of Governor’s Office Operations Montgomery – Providing unprecedented disclosure through a move that breaks the tradition of several administrations, Gov. Bob Riley on Tuesday voluntarily posted on his state website a detailed accounting of expenditures from the Governor’s Contingency Fund as well as a full listing of all trips he, his wife, First Lady Patsy Riley, or his immediate staff have taken on state owned aircraft. Traditionally, Alabama governors have gone to great lengths to hide such information from public scrutiny and have routinely denied requests made by the media under the state open records law. Official flight logs pertaining to the governor’s aircraft, for instance, have contained little, if any, information that would allow the general public to discern how it was being used, who was flying on it and where it was going at any given time. Contingency fund expenditures have been handled in a similar, secretive manner. “I’ve never understood how past governors could say taxpayers have no business knowing how taxpayer dollars are being spent,” Riley said. “State government should be open, accessible and accountable to the citizens it serves, and voluntarily posting this information on the Internet is, in my opinion, a huge step toward achieving that goal.” Riley noted that while he has released this information on his own accord and has pledged to update it on a quarterly basis, his administration is proposing legislation that would statutorily require future governors to follow his example. The bill has already received a favorable report from legislative committee. The Governor’s Contingency Fund, as outlined by the Code of Alabama, is intended to fund, among other purposes, “the ordinary expenses of the executive department, including but not limited to the expenses of the governor, the governor’s office and staff.” The contingency fund information Riley posted on the Internet includes the dates expenditures were made, the total amount that was paid to any particular vendor and a brief explanation of why the expenditures were justified. The listed amount paid to individual vendors is an aggregate total of bills that were submitted during the fiscal quarter, and, in many cases, numerous bills were submitted over the three-month period. Several contingency fund bills left over from the previous administration were not paid until the office changed hands on January 20, 2003, and those expenditures are reflected, as well. The information relating to state plane usage includes the date of each flight, its destination, a manifest of passengers, the purpose of the flight and the date of the return trip. Each flight originated from the state hanger located in Montgomery, and each was for official state business. The governor’s extraordinary actions fulfill yet another pledge made in his Plan for Change, a blueprint for state government reform and accountability that Riley released during his successful gubernatorial campaign. The information can be accessed by going to www.governor.state.al.us on the Internet. | |
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