Under the category of “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott can file some news accounts of his recent unveiling of the transparency web site, www.FloridaHasARighttoKnow.com.
The site includes salary information about many key state employees – including those on the Governor’s staff – as well as records from the Florida Retirement System listing every government pensioner receiving at least $100,000 a year.
Read more at Big Government's Pork Report.
Take a look at the new Florida government transparency website.
"As taxpayers, you have the right to know how every taxpayer dollar is spent," Scott wrote in a statement on the site. "We will be better if you hold us accountable."
Scott's document of six-figure pensions lists 542 retirees with annual benefits totaling more than $64 million.
Bill Mattox, a fellow at the conservative-leaning James Madison Institute who has studied proactive disclosure practices among Florida governments, said listing the largest state salaries or most expensive pension benefits can give taxpayers a sense if something is wrong.
"Comprehensive information is useful and important, but at the same time, selected information can be useful," Mattox said.
Scott's selected list enraged some Floridians on Thursday after it was published.
"This is outrageous," said William Cummins, a retired lawyer in Pensacola who called the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau. "State employees probably ought to be paying into their pensions."
Eric Jotkoff, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, said the site was aimed at "demonizing the hard-working teachers, firefighters and police officers who serve in our communities."
Read more at St. Pete Times
PBSC YAF wants to know how transparency is demonizing? Aren't they our tax dollars?
Thanks, Governor Scott. Maybe Mr. President should follow your lead with the whole transparency thing being as that it was one of his major campaign promises.
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