Budgets aren’t as transparent as they could be. There are ways (some simpler than others) to fix that.
By Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene | Governing
State budget documents repeatedly disappoint us. Our issue isn’t necessarily with what’s in them — but what’s not.
With that in mind, we wanted to share some of the findings — specifically, elements that budgets should, but frequently don’t, contain — from a new report we researched for the Volcker Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to effective government. The report is on best practices in budget transparency, which were compiled by talking to about 25 leading practitioners and academics.
William Glasgall, director of state and local programs for the alliance, hopes “that greater sunlight will expose bad practices and reveal good practices that aren’t in common use.”
