FL Unplugs Transparency Website as 'Too Expensive'

Much cheaper to keep it behind closed doors

TALLAHASSEE — A website designed to make most of Florida's $70 billion budgeting process available to the public came to an ignoble end when state lawmakers said the $5.5 million effort wasn't ready for prime time.

In bipartisan fashion, members of the Senate Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability distanced themselves from Transparency 2.0 earlier this year, saying the website was too expensive to operate. The contract, agreed to by the Florida Senate, would have cost Florida taxpayers an additional $1 million per year in licensing fees.

Now, lawmakers are proposing a new state agency complete with a transparency "task force."