PRESS RELEASE
Treasurer Fitzpatrick Releases Sunshine Request Statistics, Reiterates Commitment to Transparency
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick released
his fiscal year 2020 Sunshine Request statistics which reflect his commitment
to transparency. During FY2020, the Treasurer’s Office received 119 Sunshine
Requests. The average initial response time was 0.94 days, a rate of less than
one day. During FY19, the Office received 99 Sunshine Requests and had an
initial response time of 1.6 days. “Despite working from home while
facing a pandemic for the last four months of the fiscal year and an increase
in requests, my Office reduced our already low response time by approximately
half a day. We are now responding to Sunshine Requests, on average, the same
day they are made,” Treasurer Fitzpatrick said. “This timely response should
signify to Missourians how much my staff and I understand and value the
Sunshine laws in our state and that we take our responsibility under that law
very seriously. This is what I want from government—transparency and speed—and
I am proud to meet these expectations.” Treasurer Fitzpatrick is working
to increase transparency across state and local governments, as well. In
April, the Treasurer announced that he was expanding the Show-Me Checkbook,
one of the most comprehensive state financial data portals in the country, to
include local government expenditures. Currently, spending data from seven
local governments can be searched on the interactive portal, with more in
progress. As the chairman of the
Governor’s Informal Working Group on CARES Act Spending, the Treasurer strove to make the process as transparent as possible—streaming meetings online, launching
a webpage dedicated to information about the CARES Act, and creating
an interactive spending portal that tracks CARES Act Coronavirus Relief
Fund spending across state government. ### Follow the Treasurer’s Office on Twitter,
Facebook, and Instagram @motreasurer.
