Will Brownsberger — Transparency Champion

Today’s Globe story on the state’s huge legal expenditures on behalf of former Speaker DiMasi and his staff buries a nugget deep within.

The data comes from a spreadsheet that Rep. Brownsberger had requested from the Comptroller, then posted on his website. It’s a truly impressive posting — Brownsberger displays a very impressive grasp of the minutiae of state budgeting and his analysis in the later worksheets is fascinating.

It’s this type of thoughtful inquiry, made with a desire for hard data rather than political calculation, that we need more of.

If you’d like to see more information along the lines of what Rep. Brownsberger has presented, check out our website, www.massopenbooks.org. If you go to the disbursements section, you can search by vendor, object, and/or appropriation to see how your tax dollars are being spent.