Democratic Governors Lead The Way on Transparent Recovery Reporting

WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Democratic governors, led by
Governor Martin O'Malley, swept the top six spots for effectively reporting
their Recovery Act funding on the Web, according to a report issued yesterday
by a non-profit organization.

"Not only are Democratic governors leading the way in creating good jobs with
the Recovery Act funding, but they're also leading the way in showing the
public exactly how this money is being used," said Nathan Daschle, executive
director of the Democratic Governors Association. "Democratic governors are on
the frontlines of this economic recovery, and they're also committed to
transparency, accountability and making sure that this money goes to creating
jobs."

The report, Show Us the Stimulus issued by Good Jobs First, analyzed how
states are using their web sites to track how stimulus dollars are spent and
how well they track highway spending.

Six states led the scoring for their web sites: Maryland (Governor O'Malley),
Colorado (Governor Bill Ritter), Washington (Governor Chris Gregoire), West
Virginia (Governor Joe Manchin), New York (Governor David A. Paterson) and
Pennsylvania (Governor Ed Rendell).

"It's vital to keep the public in the loop on these projects, and our
Democratic governors take their responsibility for transparency and
accountability very seriously," Daschle said. "As these projects move forward,
we'll continue to listen to the public to make our reporting systems even more
responsive."

The report comes on the heels of a CNBC ranking of the best states for
business. Democratic governors took six of the nine top spots in that ranking,
with Governor Tim Kaine's Virginia leading the rankings for the second of
three years.

According to the group's Web site, Good Jobs First is a non-profit research
center based in Washington, D.C.: "Good Jobs First is a national policy
resource center for grassroots groups and public officials, promoting
corporate and government accountability in economic development and smart
growth for working families. We provide timely, accurate information on best
practices in state and local job subsidies, and on the many ties between smart
growth and good jobs."

SOURCE Democratic Governors Association

Emily DeRose of Democratic Governors Association, +1-202-772-5620