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Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).

Knowledge is power; power to the people

By the time state lawmakers convene again next year, their results will be under the scrutiny of a new set of eyes -- yours.

If you care to find out how they're spending your tax money, that is.

In a welcome boost for government accountability, the Legislature unanimously approved the creation of a new Web resource that will allow citizens to quickly and intuitively access detailed, understandable information on state spending and taxes. Much of that information is already available on the Web, but it's hard to find. And once you find it, good luck making sense of it. The idea of this new site is to bring it all together in one user-friendly place where average taxpayers can see where their money is going.

Want to know what state employees earn in salary and benefits? No problem. Curious about where state revenues come from? You got it. Care to see how well agencies are meeting their performance goals? It'll be there.

The benefits will go far beyond satisfying curiosity. State budget information is often cryptic, bordering on indecipherable. Even lawmakers have trouble mentally navigating the nooks and crannies of an enterprise that takes in and spends so many billions every year. Done well, this new resource will give citizens, interest groups, journalists and lawmakers themselves a more meaningful foundation on which to consider various priorities. Better information should lead to better decisions.

Just as importantly, demystifying state expenditures may help citizens understand the tough tradeoffs involved in every big budget decision. This state's initiative process gives voters a direct say in the setting of many state priorities; they should have a way to study the big picture in a meaningful way. To that end, those in charge of designing the new site should endeavor to present information in a variety of ways, including easy-to-understand tables, pie charts and bar graphs, with explanations in plain English.

As a next step, members of the Washington Coalition for Open Government plan to push for making it easier to find other information on state agency Web sites, perhaps using a standard search model like Google or Yahoo have. Bravo.

Every such action is supported by the principle that open government is good government. We are, after all, self-governed. We should have the information we need to govern ourselves well.