§ 62-46. Short title – Definitions – Development and operation of website.

A.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Taxpayer Transparency Act".

B.  As used in the Taxpayer Transparency Act:

1.  "Single website" means a website that allows the public to access information identified in subsection C of this section without any fee or charge to the public for such access;

2.  "Expenditure of state funds" means the disbursement of all state funds regardless of amount of expenditure, whether appropriated or nonappropriated, excluding:

a.the transfer of funds between two state agencies,

b.payments of state or federal assistance to an individual,

c.child support payments, and

d.refunds issued by the Oklahoma Tax Commission resulting from the overpayment of tax;

3.  "Incentive payments" means payments made under the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program Act, Saving Quality Jobs Act, Oklahoma Quality Jobs Incentive Leverage Act, Small Employer Quality Jobs Incentive Act, Oklahoma Specialized Quality Investment Act and Oklahoma Quality Investment Act;

4.  "Tax credit" means a credit pursuant to the Oklahoma Income Tax Act against tax liability which is taken by a taxpayer, excluding credits authorized under paragraphs 1 and 2 of subsection B of Section 2357 and Sections 2357.29 and 2357.43 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and

5.  "Stimulus funds expenditure" means the disbursement by state agencies of federal funds received pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

C.  No later than January 1, 2008, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall develop and operate a single website accessible by the public.  The website shall include aggregate information on state revenue, expenditures and incentive payments and information on state tax preferences as contained in the tax expenditure report published by the Oklahoma Tax Commission pursuant to subsection E of Section 205 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  No later than January 1, 2009, the website shall include search capabilities.

D.  Effective January 1, 2011, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall update the website with "Open Books 2.0," an expanded online database through which each individual expenditure shall be listed individually separate of aggregated amount.  The information shall be searchable by term including name of recipient, entity making expenditure and date of expenditure.  The website shall allow members of the public to export sets of data produced by search query in a standardized exportable form.  No later than eighteen (18) months after "Open Books 2.0" is online, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall create an online archive for each fiscal year, beginning with Fiscal Year 2011, which shall be accessible and searchable to online users.

E.  As soon as practicable after January 1, 2008, such website shall also include, but not be limited to:

1.  For the expenditure of state funds or incentive payments:

a.the name and principal location of the entity and/or recipients of the funds, excluding release of information relating to an individual's place of residence, release of information prohibited by subsection D of Section 24A.7 of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes or by federal law relating to privacy rights,

b.the amount of state funds expended,

c.the type of transaction,

d.the funding or expending agency, and

e.a descriptive purpose of the funding action or expenditure;

2.  For stimulus fund expenditures:

a.a link to the name and principal location of the entity and/or recipients of the funds regardless of amount,

b.the amount of stimulus funds expended,

c.the funding or expending agency, and

d.a descriptive purpose of the funding action or expenditure; and

3.  For each tax credit, information, including but not limited to:

a.the name of each taxpayer to which a credit has been granted,

b.the amount of such credit, and

c.the specific provision under which a credit has been granted.

F.  The single website provided for in subsection C of this section shall include data on state revenue, expenditures and incentive payments for the fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter, on state tax credits for tax year 2007 and each tax year thereafter, and on stimulus fund expenditures for the fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter.  Such data shall be available on the single website no later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the preceding fiscal year; provided, data on stimulus fund expenditures for the fiscal year 2009 shall be available on the single website within one hundred twenty (120) days after the effective date of this act.

G.  No later than January 1, 2012, the single website provided for in subsection C of this section shall include a section specific to data on road funding in this state.  This section of the website shall include but not be limited to historical as well as current revenue collections and apportionment data on the following:

1.  Diesel fuel and gasoline excise tax collected pursuant to Sections 500.4 and 603 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes;

2.  Gross production tax collected pursuant to Section 1001 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes;

3.  Motor vehicle collections collected pursuant to Sections 6-101, 6-114, 14-116 and 1105 et seq. of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and

4.  Motor vehicle excise tax collected pursuant to Sections 2103, 2104.3 and 2110 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

H.  No later than January 1, 2012, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall include as part of the single website all spending data subject to publication by the "School District Transparency Act" in Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

I.  The Oklahoma Tax Commission, the Office of the State Treasurer, all institutions of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education and any other state agency shall provide to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services such information as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Taxpayer Transparency Act.

J.  So that the Tax Commission may fulfill its obligations as required by this section, all recipients of tax credits, as that term is defined herein, shall file their reports or returns claiming the tax credits in an electronic format, as may be required by the Tax Commission.  The Tax Commission may disallow any claim of a person for a tax credit due to its failure to file a report or return as required under the authority of this subsection.

K.  Nothing in the Taxpayer Transparency Act shall require the disclosure of information which is required to be kept confidential by state or federal law.

L.  The disclosure of information required by this section shall create no liability whatsoever, civil or criminal, to the State of Oklahoma or any member of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services or any employee thereof for disclosure of the information or for any error or omission in the disclosure.

M.  The State Auditor and Inspector shall maintain a website providing public access to the documentation of stimulus funding pursuant to the requirements of this section.  The website shall provide a list of all stimulus fund expenditures regardless of amount.  The entire list of stimulus fund expenditures and each of the related content requirements as detailed in subsection D of this section shall be available for export in standardized formats including but not limited to eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and Comma Separated Value (CSV) formats.  The list of expenditures shall include searchable functionality including but not limited to the ability to search the expenditures by the name of the entity receiving funding, name of entity processing funding and name of entity benefiting from funding.

N.  Information about tax credits subject to disclosure pursuant to this section shall include the identity of all taxpayers or organizations having any part in the chain of custody or claim to the credit or credits at any time during the credit's existence.

Added by Laws 2007, c. 327, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2007.  Amended by Laws 2010, c. 475, § 2, emerg. eff. June 10, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 1, § 29, emerg. eff. March 18, 2011; Laws 2011, c. 273, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2012; Laws 2012, c. 11, § 18, emerg. eff. April 4, 2012; Laws 2012, c. 304, § 424.

Note

NOTE:  Laws 2011, c. 292, § 6 repealed by Laws 2012, c. 11, § 19, emerg. eff. April 4, 2012.