A new report by Good Jobs First--a "policy resource center" promoting government and corporate accountability--has evaluated the quantity and quality of state government's online disclosure of economic development subsidies, procurement contracts, and lobbying. The report--titled "The State of State Disclosure"--concludes that while state governments are improving transparency via the Internet, they are still not taking advantage of the full capacity of the Internet. Specifically, reporting for lobbying and procurement contracts is typically above disclosure of corporate tax breaks and other economic developments.

This is certainly true here in Michigan according to the report's evaluation of Michigan's reporting. Michigan's lobbying disclosure is given an 89% rating (out of a maximum of 100%), the highest ranking received. The report states that Michigan has "a comprehensive and easy-to-use database" with the only weakness being its inability to search by year. In the area of contracting, Michigan was ranked 67% for its contracting disclosure through the Michigan Department of Management and Budget. The disclosure received good ratings for providing exact dollar amounts, being prominently linked, and disclosing all sectors. The state lost points for only allowing users to search by name and not making copies of the full contract available. Michigan received its worst ranking for disclosing subsidies, receiving a 0% rating because it "does not systematically disclose company-specific subsidy information to the public."