It appears that back in June I had my own "Mission Accomplished" moment. I declared that "transparency had arrived" in Colorado after Gov. Bill Ritter signed Rep. BJ Nikkel's HB 1288 into law. The bill mandated that state government open up its checkbook for all to see, placing expenditures and revenues online in a searchable, sortable format.

All we had to do was wait for the executive branch to implement the site. It did so last week, unveiling the Transparency Online Portal, or TOPS. It's a massive disappointment. The site includes precious few of the details and context necessary for the data to have any meaning. Much of the expenditures are presented in an aggregate format, rather than individual line items.

Of course, this should come as no surprise. Ritter fought tooth-and-nail to gut Rep. Nikkel's bill. We called him on that, and thought the issue was settled after HB 1288 was signed. Unfortunately, we underestimated the Governor's capacity to say one thing and do another.

On behalf of NTU's 7,325 Colorado members, I testified in support of this bill earlier in the year. Gov. Ritter has clearly violated the spirit of the legislation. Either he doesn't understand the issue, or he explicitly opposes the idea that taxpayers should see how their money is collected and spent.

Gov. Ritter, it's time to stop playing games and restore transparency and accountability to Colorado. Govern in good faith, for once.