OLYMPIA – Representative Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane) has been appointed to head the special legislative committee responsible for facilitating transparency and accountability in legislative budget processes in Washington State.
“As an advocate and sponsor of legislation to increase transparency in our state Operating, Capital, and Transportation budgets, involvement on the LEAP committee has been invaluable,” said Riccelli. “I am proud to chair the committee and continue important work on accountability and open government. As a lawmaker from Eastern Washington I am especially interested in anything that makes citizen access to government only a click away.”
The Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program (LEAP) Committee was created in 1977 (more info here) to provide the legislature with independent information for developing budgets, communicating budget decisions, and tracking revenue, expenditure, and staffing activity. The bicameral, bipartisan committee also creates and maintains the reporting systems that are used throughout the legislature to provide detailed information on proposed and enacted budgets.
###