1 Contract Sunshine Act Report Legislative Audit Bureau October 13, 2011

2 Contract Sunshine Funding Only minimal resources have been devoted to Contract Sunshine. u GAB has never requested additional funding for the Web site. u The Legislature has appropriated $11,300 in GPR annually to GAB. u One GAB staff member spends 35 percent of his time on Contract Sunshine issues.

3 Reporting Levels Agencies have reported more information to the Web site in recent years. u In the first four months of FY , 38 agencies reported 2,526 transactions. u In FY , 12 agencies reported 853 transactions.

4 Reporting Challenges The Web site has design limitations that hinder some agency reporting. Agencies are uncertain of their reporting requirements. GAB’s instructions to agencies have affected reporting.

5 Reporting Timeliness From July through October 2010: u 11.4 percent of 1,841 transactions were reported within the required 24 hours. u Almost two-thirds of transactions were reported ten days or more after the transactions had occurred.

6 Reported Information’s Usefulness The Contract Sunshine Act: u requires agencies to report the estimated value of transactions, not the actual values; and u does not require agencies to report vendor names.

7 Other Web Sites Agencies report similar purchasing information to at least nine other Web sites, which: u makes it challenging for the public to understand how State funds are spent; and u results in duplicative reporting by agencies.

8 New Web Site’s Implementation The Legislature has directed DOA to implement a new expenditure, contract, and grant information Web site. This new Web site could be more useful than the Contract Sunshine Web site for public monitoring of government purchasing.

9 Future Considerations After DOA provides additional information, the Legislature could either: u repeal Contract Sunshine statutes; or u modify statutes to improve Contract Sunshine’s usefulness to the public.