Hawaii on Sunshine Review
From SunshineReview.org
Selected details from SunshineReview.org review of State, County, and DoE websites. Read the entire report >>> HERE.
In the charts below:
means that information is included on the government website
means that the information was not provided on the government website
means that information was partially provided
County Comparison chart
Hawaii doesn't have local school districts, all schools fall under the State Department of Education. In 2012, Sunshine Review evaluated the Department of Education website and found it had earned a "C+" website transparency grade.
Evaluation of Hawaii school district website
Evaluation of Hawaii State website = “Grade B”
Hawaii.gov is the website for the state of Hawaii.
This website was reviewed on January 15, 2012.
The good
- The site's search function is good, and the site is fairly easy to navigate.
- Elected officials are listed with contact information.[1]
- Agencies are listed with contact information,[2] and officials are listed on department pages.
- The current multi-year budget is posted.[3]
- Audits are posted.[4]
- Tax information is available.[5]
- Ethics information is posted,[6] along with lobbyist lists.[7]
- Bid opportunities and awarded contracts are posted[8][9][10]
- Information and form for making public records requests is available.[11]
The bad
U.S. PIRG rating
The U.S. PIRG rated the state website a "C" on providing online access to government spending data, with a score of 73 out of 100.[12]
The scorecard that U.S. PIRG uses has 13 items and focuses on a separate state website that is searchable at the checkbook level. Sunshine Review, on the other hand, focuses on the availability of separate spending-related items; they do not need to be in a central database.
| Item |
Possible points |
Notes |
| Checkbook-level website |
30 |
Detailed expenditure information, including individual payments made to vendors. |
| Search by vendor |
8 |
Ability to search checkbook-level expenditures by contractor or vendor name. |
| Search by keyword of activity |
8 |
Ability to search checkbook-level expenditures by type of service or item purchased, category, or government fund. |
| Search by agency or departments |
8 |
Ability to search checkbook-level expenditures by branch of government. |
| Contract or summary information |
10 |
A copy of the contract or detailed summary information is included for the expenditures. |
| Historical expenditures |
5 |
Checkbook-level expenditure data from previous fiscal years. |
| Grants and economic development incentives information |
10 |
Awardee-specific grants and/or economic development incentives are included in the checkbook tool or elsewhere with specific award amounts. |
| Downloadable |
3 |
Information can be downloaded for data analysis. |
| Tax expenditure reports |
10 |
The state's tax expenditure report is linked on the website. |
| Off-budget agencies |
2 |
Expenditures from quasi-public agencies are included on the website. |
| City and county budgets |
2 |
Financial information for some local governments is accessible. |
| ARRA Funding |
2 |
A link is provided to the state's website that tracks funding related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. |
| Feedback |
2 |
Website users are capable and encouraged to give feedback about the site. |
There are several similarities between the checklists. For both checklists, the searchability of information factors in to how usability is rated. Both checklists have an item relating to contracts, tax information, and the budget. The U.S. PIRG requires information for quasi public entities; Sunshine Review requires information on lobbying, which includes quasi public entities lobbying activity.
Unlike the Sunshine Review checklist with each check worth one point, different items on the U.S. PIRG checklist merit more or fewer points, depending on the item.
State Integrity Investigation
The 2012 State Integrity Investigation graded state ethics laws according to an "Integrity Index." The index was created by researching 330 "Integrity Indicators" across 14 categories of state government. The report assigned grades based on what laws are on the books, and whether or not they were effectively enforced. The report was a project of The Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio International.[13]
Hawaii received an overall grade of C, or 74%. It ranked 10 out of the 50 states.[14]
| Category |
Grade |
| Public Access to Information |
D |
| Political Financing |
B |
| Executive Accountability |
C+ |
| Legislative Accountability |
C- |
| Judicial Accountability |
D+ |
| State Budget Processes |
D |
| State Civil Service Management |
D |
| Procurement |
B+ |
| Internal Auditing |
A |
| Lobbying Disclosure |
D- |
| State Pension Fund Management |
D+ |
| Ethics Enforcement Agencies |
C |
| State Insurance Commissions |
F |
| Redistricting |
A |