Republicans in the House of Representatives will
put an end to secret government spending.
Everyone knows that the legislature passes a budget that allocates
tax dollars. But what happens to
money that comes in after the budget has passed and the legislature has
gone home?
The current
procedure of expansion requests allows money that comes in after the
budget is completed and the legislature has adjourned to be spent by the
administration without appropriation by the General Assembly. There is no
public disclosure of how the money is spent.
For instance, the Federal Government sent
Tennessee almost 200 million dollars after the legislature adjourned this
year. The
Administration decides how to spend the money and sends a notice to the
chairmen of the Finance committees in the General Assembly.
The chairmen then acknowledge that they have received the notice.
The administration is then free to spend the money.
We will change this process so that it is more
open, more public and more transparent.
