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Governor Huntsman to Sign Bill to Increase Government Transparency

Sutherland Institute Releases New Research Showing Potential Savings from New Law

Salt Lake City, UT – May 9, 2008 – Based on research conducted by the Sutherland Institute, Utah taxpayers could potentially see a yearly savings in excess of $100,000 once SB 38: Transparency in Government Finance is fully implemented.  Governor Huntsman will sign the bill on Monday, May 12 at 2:00 pm at the Department of Workforce Services.

The Sutherland-supported bill requires the state to set up a website that will “provide access to financial reports, financial audits, budgets, and other financial documents” free of charge to all Utahns.  In conjunction with the bill’s signing, Sutherland has issued a new report: Transparency in Government that highlights the potential for significant savings and increased public awareness that Utah’s new transparency bill will facilitate.

“When the light of public inquiry is allowed to shine on government finances, liberty is preserved, representative government is strengthened, and responsible governance is encouraged,” said Derek Monson, policy analyst for Sutherland.  “We commend Senator Niederhauser’s efforts to enact policy that uses current technology to put information about state spending just a click away for the average Utahn.”

Sutherland’s new report discusses in detail the benefits of the legislation to Utah and makes the case for continuing to broaden the scope of SB 38, which currently only applies to the state government while exempting cities, counties, and most educational institutions from providing information to the website.  Some of the reports highlights include the increased good governance, easy access to state spending habits, significant financial benefits to Utah taxpayers, and better fraud prevention capability.

The full report can be downloaded at

http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/uploads/transparencyingovernment.pdf.

From the Energy Solutions press release:

EnergySolutions also announced that it has offered to self-impose a limit on international material equal to 5 percent of the remaining capacity at its Clive disposal facility.

Then at the bottom of the page is LITERALLY the fine print:

There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements

There…

I said it.

Maybe it’s time.

For The Ladies (of a certain situation)

JM Bell+ KSL= Most Important Thing Ever

Editorial from The Deseret Morning News

Editorial from The Salt Lake Tribune

The Tribune hit one out of the park with this great paragraph:

So far, we have seen an informal indictment of an entire community, something for which we find no authority in the Constitution, compounded by an absence of criminal charges and a shocking disregard of due process.

Amen

You’ll want to go here

Support a local mamma.

The Mind of Scads has a great analysis of RSL HQ.

Worth the read and very insightful.

The Texas Raids: The Alamo Defenders Circled Around Sarah Shooting at A Metaphor