Increased government financial transparency is needed now more than ever. School district budgets continue to grow rapidly, with spending consistently outpacing population and inflation growth. Making matters worse, there has been a steady stream of high-profile news stories over the last year or so detailing egregious instances of waste, fraud, and abuse involving everything from water parks to golf courses to six-figure severance packages to palatial high school football stadiums to gargantuan digital scoreboards and more.
As introduced, SB 629 aims to improve transparency in the school districts ranked within the Top 50 in student enrollment by requiring them to post and maintain certain school financial information at all times. By requiring school districts to disclose their financial information for all taxpayers to see, state lawmakers will create an atmosphere that invites greater government efficiency.