The open government advocacy group upped its letter grade for Kansas from a B-minus to a B. Sunshine Review rates government entities based on their openness in 10 different categories, including access to public officials, budget and tax information, contracts and other public records.
Kirstin McMurray, Sunshine Review's managing editor, told Statehouse News Online Kansas's redesigned website was easier to use than the previous version. Still, there is plenty of room for improvement, McMurry said, pointing to a lack of information about lobbying by state-funded organizations and occasionally confusing contact information.
The state has an appointed 15-member Public Finance Transparency Board, formed in 2008, but a member of the statehouse press association told the news service he hadn't met with its members in two years. Kansas does have a specific website where citizens can pour through the state's budget, although it hasn't been updated for the current fiscal year because of incompatible software.
