Online checkbook wins national kudos

Credit: Laura Bischoff

Credit: Laura Bischoff

OhioCheckbook.com, an online database of state and local government transactions, won the top national ranking for government transparency from U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

U.S. PIRG, founded in 1971 by consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader, ranks states for transparency in government spending. Ohio won the top slot two years in a row for having the best state government spending website in the nation, said Elizabeth Ridlington, co-author of U.S. PIRG's "Following the Money."

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel launched the easy-to-use government transparency website in December 2014 by posting Ohio's transactions. Since then, Mandel has managed to get 650 local school districts and governments to add their data. The site, which has been searched more than 500,000 times, has data on $512 billion in government spending and 139 million transactions.

The searchable database can be found here: Ohio Checkbook

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