Open Connecticut gets an upgrade

HARTFORD, Conn. – Interested taxpayers can now get a fresh look at the state’s checkbook using a nightly-updated database that’s part of a recent overhaul to state Comptroller Kevin Lembo’s “Open Connecticut” website.

At a Tuesday press conference, Lembo demonstrated the upgraded version of a transparency database his office launched more than a year ago. He acknowledged the improved hub of state fiscal data may not draw heavy internet traffic, but he said transparency is a value for government.

“It doesn’t really matter if no one spends a ton of time on ‘Open Connecticut 2.0.’ The fact that it’s out there, the fact that folks can get to it if they choose, does a couple things. It comforts the residents of the state . . . and it focuses the conversation on real issues and not on the grumpy uncle conversations that often happen at Thanksgiving,” he said.

The updated site includes a searchable “open checkbook,” which draws data from the state’s accounting ledger program called CORE CT. The information on the site should be updated nightly. That means if a state agency pays a vendor, the expense should be reflected on the database within a day. The database is also updated with information on money coming to the state as that data is provided by the Revenue Services Department, Lembo said.

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.