Now that online technology allows for easy one-stop research, Sen. Mark Schoesler wants to make it easy for people to go online for information about all the fees imposed by state agencies. Today the Senate approved Schoesler’s “fee inventory” bill unanimously.

“This is what happens when government agencies take the initiative to do something useful – the Legislature decides to put it into law,” quipped Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “This bill would have the state Office of Financial Management take on, as an official duty, something it did voluntarily several years ago, and that’s to maintain and update a database of state fees.”

The inventory of fees called for in Senate Bill 5751 would let people see exactly who is collecting the fee, the purpose of the fee, the current amount of the fee, the amount of the fee over the previous five years, and the statutory authority for the fee.

“One of our Majority Coalition Caucus goals is to hold state government more accountable, and that’s easier to do when things are transparent. This bill would make the fees collected in our state a whole lot more transparent and simpler to follow,” Schoesler said.