Politics on the Hudson

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli today launched Open Book New York, a Web site where the public can track the spending of all 113 state agencies and more than 60,000 state contracts.The site allows users to search state agencies and see the contracts it has.

“For too long, Albany did business behind closed doors,” DiNapoli said. “Today, we’re opening the doors and opening the books. Open Book New York gives the public a roadmap to follow their tax dollars and brings more accountability to state spending.

“This is the closest to real-time financial tracking the state has ever seen. When everyone can see where the money goes, nothing can be hidden.”

“Open Book New York” contains active state contracts and contract amendments that state agencies have with businesses, not-for-profit organizations and other governmental entities. The contracts are updated nightly and contain active contracts going back 10 years.

The Web site was endorsed by good-government groups and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Seen below(from left to right) NYPIRG’s Blair Horner, Bruno, DiNapoli, Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters and Robert Ward of the Rockefeller Institute.