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MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Gov. Scott Walkers administration finally launched a website Thursday detailing years of state government expenditures after more than two years of work, but its still far from finished. The site, openbook.wi.gov, contains 25 million searchable entries documenting spending on goods and services by state agencies, the Legislature, the courts and the University of Wisconsin System dating back to July 2007, Chris Schoenherr, deputy secretary at the Department of Administration, said during a news conference. The depth of the data varies. Some agency entries include individual transaction lines on employees state credit cards for everything from gas to office supplies. Entries for other entities, such as the UW System and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, offer only aggregate figures. The site also doesnt include information on state employees salaries and benefits, grants or contract details as required by state law. And entries dont include any explanations about the spending, instead offering a link for sending questions to DOA. Schoenherr said the department plans to add more data over the coming months. Still, he called the breadth of information now available a historic moment for government transparency in Wisconsin. At least 37 states have public websites that allow expenditure searches by payee name, amount and date, according to DOA. Wisconsins Contract Sunshine website already lists government purchasing, but a 2011 state audit found the sites information wasnt always accurate and its difficult to navigate. Republican lawmakers included language in the 2011-13 state budget requiring DOA to create a searchable website detailing state expenditures, including salaries and fringe benefits, copies of contracts and grant awards, by July 1, 2013. Walker, a Republican, vetoed the deadline out of the final spending plan he signed in June 2011, however. DOA began work on the site in October 2011. The agency hoped to launch it by the end of 2012, DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch said in a January 2012 letter to the Legislatures audit committee. The agency eventually pushed the deadline back to spring of 2013, but the site still wasnt ready then. Schoenherr said DOA needed time to gather information across state agencies disparate systems, remove information that might identify someone and test the site. He said DOA hasnt detected any inappropriate spending so far. He estimated the department has spent $160,000 on development. About $90,000 went to outside contractors; the remainder was spent on testing software, he said. He didnt have any estimates on the cost of state employees working on the site. Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, a member of the audit committee, said he was pleased some version of the site was finally live but said it needs work. Im glad its up and running, at least a test version, he said. It obviously needs to be stronger. View comments
Top 10 Python Libraries for Addressing Imbalanced Data in ML
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