Bill > HB130

This bill aims to improve public access to government data and financial information by establishing the DataOhio Board, which will recommend categories of public records for online posting in open, machine-readable formats, and technology and accounting standards for data. It also mandates the creation of data.Ohio.gov, an online catalog of public records and data sets from state agencies and local governments, and requires the Auditor of State to develop uniform accounting procedures and charts of accounts for all public offices, with those complying earning a "DataOhio Transparency Award-Uniformity of Accounting." Additionally, the bill establishes the Local Government Information Exchange Grant Program, administered by the State Librarian, to provide grants of $10,000 to eligible local entities like counties, townships, municipal corporations, and public libraries to help them meet requirements for posting public records online in open formats. The bill also makes an appropriation of $350,000 for fiscal year 2017 to support the development of these uniform accounting systems.