Arlington, VA (Jan. 16, 2020) – Last week, Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) filed a California Public Records Act lawsuit against the California State Controller on behalf of its clients, OpenTheBooks.com and Adam Andrzejewski. The lawsuit seeks to compel the agency to release records concerning state spending information, including records reflecting line-by-line vendor payments. OpenTheBooks.com, founded and led by Mr. Andrzejewski, is the largest private repository of United States public-sector spending. It has been trying to acquire checkbook data from the Controller for over six years, but it has faced continual delay, silence, and obfuscation.
To date, California is the only state to refuse public access to line-by-line spending information; OpenTheBooks.com regularly collects and publishes all 49 other states’ spending information. The Controller’s actions, in this case, are especially egregious as it claims it is unable to even identify the requested information. This is an astounding claim from an agency that openly admits to paying 49 million bills annually, totaling approximately $320 billion in payments. If the Controller is truly unable to effectively manage public records concerning its core operations, then it calls into question its ability to effectively combat waste, fraud, corruption, and taxpayer abuse in the fifth largest economy in the world.
The public has a right to understand how its tax dollars are spent. The Controller has yet to offer any legal basis for its refusal to produce records to OpenTheBooks.com’s auditors and investigators. CoA Institute’s efforts in this new lawsuit, however, should help to bring a little more sunshine to the operation of the California government and secure information about the 49 million bills paid by the Controller in 2019 alone.
OpenTheBooks.com and Mr. Andrzejewski are represented by CoA Institute Counsel Ryan P. Mulvey and local counsel K. Greg Peterson, Esq. of Sacramento, CA. OpenTheBooks.com’s press release is available here. A copy of the Complaint and initial exhibits is available here.
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Media Contact: James Valvo, james.valvo@causeofaction.org, (571) 482-4182
About Cause of Action Institute
CoA Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan government oversight organization that uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public about how government accountability, transparency, and the rule of law protect liberty and economic opportunity.
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