COLUMBIA — With a 110 to 0 vote Tuesday, the Higher Education Transparency Act of 2011 (H. 3185) passed the South Carolina House of Representatives. Pre-filed in December, the transparency measure was an early agenda item of the House Republican Caucus.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell said, “This is another step the House has taken to make our state government more transparent and accountable to taxpayers. In this budget environment, it is important to ensure that the public knows how every dollar is spent. Making all expenditures available to the public makes our state’s institutions of Higher Learning more accountable to the people.”
Under the House’s Higher Education Transparency Act of 2011, state Colleges and Universities will be required to post online a monthly registry of all expenditures and dollar amounts – prominently displayed on their official websites for the public to see.
House Education & Public Works Committee Chairman, Phil Owens said, “Taxpayers, especially tuition paying parents, should be able to know what their money is being spent on. By putting Higher Education expenditures online, we’re giving parents another tool to hold our state colleges and universities accountable for their spending.”
After receiving a procedural third reading Wednesday, the Higher Education Transparency Act will be sent to the South Carolina Senate.