Oregon Transparency Project Launched by Salem-News.com

The state budget like most have never seen before.

Salem-News.com Oregon Transparency Project

(SALEM, Ore.) - In response to Oregon House Bill 2500, the State of Oregon has made available extensive data on state expenditures for the first time. This data is available in raw formats at www.oregon.gov/transparency/.

Representative Kim Thatcher, one of the co-sponsors of HB 2500 who sits on the advisory committee for the website, explained that the state has every intention of making the existing transparency site more accessible and easier to use for members of the general public. However, due to the extremely tight budget situation at this time, they were not able to allocate any additional funds for developing the transparency website. This created a void for Oregon citizens.

In answer to that dilemma, to make the expenditure data released by the state more accessible to the public, Salem-News.com has launched the Salem-News.com: Oregon Transparency Project.

"This is a very important base of information for Oregonians," said Salem-News.com Publisher Bonnie King. "We are pleased to offer a service that will encourage citizens to learn more about what's happening in their state government." "The Oregon Transparency Project was created by business reporter Ersun Warnke. He saw a need, and filled it. The project uses the data made available by the State at their transparency website, put together in a very user-friendly application," King said.

Data on state expenditures and employee salaries has been combined into one comprehensive database for easy access. This data has been placed into an interface that allows it to be easily searched, browsed, and sorted.

It is our hope that this website will be a valuable resource for everyone who is interested in researching state government spending.

"It's a great chance for citizens to answer some of their own questions. Too often there are disagreements that could be easily resolved with the right resource. The Oregon Transparency Project is just such an answer," said Bonnie King.

"I think people will be surprised at what they learn. It's a very intriguing list of information, and certainly is a great conversation starter. It's really good for people to have the facts when they have discussions about state government -- now they will."

For more information, contact the Salem-News.com newsroom. Email: Newsroom@Salem-News.com

Ersun describes his writing as being "in the language of the boardroom from the perspective of the shop floor." He adds that "he has no education in journalism other than reading Hunter S. Thompson." But along with life comes the real experience that indeed creates quality writers. Right now, every detail that can help the general public get ahead in life financially, is of paramount importance.

You can write to Ersun at: warncke@comcast.net