What's new?

The Legislature, the public, and the executive branch have all expressed a desire to have more and better information about government services.

Recent issues and developments continue to drive the need for this information. For example:

• Legislative task forces requiring detailed views of specific governmental services;

• Initiatives impacting state and local financing, such as Initiative 695; and

• New accounting and reporting requirements, such as Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34, providing data that is more complete and easier to understand.

While demands for data have highlighted the value of tools such as this web site, they also point out the limitations.

The following recommendations propose the steps towards increasing the value and usability of this and related data tools.

What needs to happen next?

Governments have an abundance of data. However, the data is not always readily available, consistent with data reported by other governments, or user-friendly.

Government data should lead to better knowledge about government services. For this reason, the following recommendations are being made:

• The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of Washington State should promote better coordination, collection, and reporting of state and local financial and contextual data in ways that support consolidated, seamless views;

• The Office of Financial Management and the State Auditor’s Office should assure alignment and consistency of data across governments as changes to financial reporting takes place;

• To encourage greater accessibility and use, the web sites that present state and local data should be given broad exposure; and

• Given the increasing interest in combined views of state and local data, the Legislature should designate a more stable funding source for state and local data coordination, collection, and reporting.

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