9-2-1036. Wyoming public finance and expenditure of funds website.

(a) There is created the Wyoming public finance and expenditure of funds website to be administered by the department.

(b) The purpose of the Wyoming public finance and expenditure of funds website is to:

(i) Permit Wyoming taxpayers to view and track the use of taxpayer dollars by making participating state entities' public financial information available on the internet;

(ii) Allow a person who has internet access to use the website without paying a fee;

(iii) Allow the public to search public financial information on the Wyoming public finance and expenditure of funds website using criteria established by the department;

(iv) Provide access to financial reports, financial audits, budgets or other financial documents that are used to allocate, appropriate, spend and account for government funds as may be established by rule under W.S. 9-2-1037;

(v) Have a unique and simplified website address;

(vi) Be directly accessible via a link from the main page of the official state website;

(vii) Include other links, features or functions that will assist the public in obtaining and reviewing public financial information; and

(viii) Allow Wyoming citizens to lodge concerns relating to Wyoming state or local government entities expending funds in a manner which the citizen believes unfairly competes with the private sector in providing commercial activities. At a minimum, in implementing this paragraph, the website shall include:

(A) A link entitled "government competition concerns" which contains a means for a citizen to lodge a concern with governmental competition including:

(I) The entity involved;

(II) The activity involved;

(III) Whether the concern is a result of a specific instance or ongoing activity;

(IV) The effect of the competition on the citizen's commercial activity, if applicable;

(V) A means to contact the citizen for further information, if necessary.

(B) Access to all information submitted pursuant to this paragraph, including access to summary data.

(c) The department shall:

(i) Establish and maintain the website, including the provision of equipment, resources and personnel as necessary;

(ii) Maintain an archive of all information posted to the website;

(iii) Coordinate and process the receipt and posting of public financial information from participating state entities.

(d) The department may:

(i) Develop plans and make recommendations to the committee related to the implementation of the provisions of this act;

(ii) Determine what public financial information shall be provided by participating state entities, provided that the public financial information:

(A) Only includes records that:

(I) Are classified as official public records under W.S. 16-4-201 through 16-4-205;

(II) Are an accounting of monies, funds, accounts, bonds, loans, expenditures or revenues, regardless of source; and

(III) Are owned, held or administered by the participating state entity that is required to provide the record.

(B) Is of the type or nature that should be accessible to the public via a website based on considerations of:

(I) The cost effectiveness of providing the information;

(II) The value of providing the information to the public; and

(III) Privacy and security implications.

(iii) Evaluate the cost effectiveness of implementing specific information resources and features on the website and report that information to the committee.

(e) A participating state entity shall permit the public to view the public financial information of the participating state entity via the website, beginning with information that is generated on or after July 1, 2009.

(f) Not later than January 1, 2010, the website shall be operational and permit access to the public financial information of participating state entities. Not later than June 30, 2012 the website shall incorporate features implementing the provisions of paragraph (b)(viii) of this section.

(g) The state chief information officer shall provide an annual report to the committee on all initiatives, projects and expenditures under this act. Beginning July 1, 2013, the annual report shall include:

(i) The number of concerns with unfair competition received;

(ii) For each government entity subject to a lodged concern, the number of concerns lodged and number of citizens lodging concerns;

(iii) For each state entity which is the subject of a concern, a summary of the complaint and any action the entity reports to the department that was taken in response to the complaint.