17 June, 2013
The Patrick Administration today launched “Informed Massachusetts” – a user-friendly website that consolidates the Open Government and Transparency web pages previously found on Mass.gov. Informed Massachusetts pulls together these sites into a unified portal, creating a user-friendly site through which citizens can quickly and easily find information.
“As part of our commitment to open government to all of our citizens, we have launched tools over the past few years to help the public understand how state government works,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “Asking government to articulate what success looks like and be accountable for results is something that every citizen should expect.”
From this site, citizens can also get details on elected officials, locate laws on topics that are of interest or obtain information on any city or town in Massachusetts.
“Informed Massachusetts makes it easier for taxpayers to see the sources of the state’s revenues, how these funds are spent and the results achieved through public investments,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor. “This site is just another way in which the Patrick Administration is working to make government more transparent.”
The Patrick Administration has worked to ensure state government keeps taxpayers informed of how the state is using resources to deliver real results. As part of this commitment, the Commonwealth has launched tools and implemented reforms over past years to change the way government does business and help the public understand how state government works, including establishing an Office of Commonwealth Performance, Accountability and Transparency (CPAT), a new MassResults program to bring together key initiatives focused on making state government more effective, more accountable and more open, the Open Checkbook and publishing the budget in program format.
Cumulatively, the Open Government and Transparency websites contained many helpful links and information for citizens, including Open Checkbook. This information has earned the Commonwealth consistent recognition from national advocacy groups such as US PIRG, who rate Massachusetts as a leader in transparency with an “A-“ grade, and the Sunshine Review, who gave the Commonwealth a 92/100 score.
