New Site Lets People Search Missouri Expenses
Source: Associated Press (MO), 6:30 am CDT July 12, 2007
From utility to hotel bills, the curious now have an easier way to see how Missouri is spending its tax dollars. Missouri launched an Internet site Wednesday that allows people to search a database of expenditures both by broad categories and by specific businesses and individuals. It's updated after the close of business each day -- a feature that Gov. Matt Blunt's office claims makes it one of the first of its kind nationally.
....... Five states -- Kansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas -- enacted laws this year requiring state Internet sites that can search government contracts, grants and, in some cases, other kinds of expenses, according to Americans for Tax Reform, a low-tax advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
....... The site is dubbed the Missouri Accountability Portal, or MAP. The acronym is intended to suggest it provides a map to how tax dollars are spent.