Missouri Senate

Senate Committee Substitute

This act establishes the "Missouri Local Government Expenditure Database". The database shall be available free of charge on the Office of Administration's website and shall include information about expenditures made during each fiscal year that begins after December 31, 2022.

The database shall include the following information: the amount of the expenditure; the date the expenditure was paid; the vendor to whom the expenditure was paid, unless such information is confidential; the purpose of the expenditure; and the municipality or county that made or requested the expenditure.

A municipality or county may choose to voluntarily participate in the database. Each municipality or county participating in the database shall provide electronically transmitted information to the Office of Administration biannually as provided in the act.

Additionally, if 5% of the registered voters in a municipality or county request to participate, the municipality or county shall participate in the database. Residents may request participation by submitting a written letter by certified mail to the governing body of the municipality or county and the Office of Administration. After receiving the requisite number of requests, a municipality or county shall begin participating in the database, but is not required to report expenditures incurred before one complete 6 month reporting period.

The Office of Administration shall provide financial reimbursement to any participating municipality or county for actual expenditures incurred from participation in the database.

This act provides that no later than one year after the database is implemented, the Office of Administration shall provide on it's website an opportunity for public comment on the utility of the database.

Finally, each municipality or county that has a website shall display on its website a prominent internet link to the database.

These provisions are identical to provisions in SS#2/SCS/HCS/HB 1854 (2020) and HB 1933 (2020).

DOCUMENTS TO COUNTY TREASURERS (Section 50.166)

Under current law, a county clerk may transmit in the form of a warrant the amount due for a grant, salary, pay, and expenses to the county treasurer.

This act provides that, upon request, the county treasurer shall have access to any financially relevant document in the possession of any county official for the purposes of processing a warrant. If the warrant is received in the absence of a check, then the county treasurer shall have access to the information necessary to process the warrant.

Additionally, no official of any county shall refuse a request from the county treasurer for access to or a copy of any document in the possession of a county office that is financially relevant to the salaries of county officers and assistants; however, a county official may redact, remove, or delete any personal identifying information before submission to the county treasurer. Finally, no county treasurer shall refuse to release funds for the payment of any properly approved expenditure.

These provisions are identical to provisions in SS/SCS/SB 27 (2021) and substantially similar to SCS/SB 576 (2020).

MARY GRACE BRUNTRAGER