Standing in front of the state’s jet plane used by Alabama governors, Gov. Riley discusses the new disclosure law.

MONTGOMERY - Governor Bob Riley on Friday signed into law a bill he has been advocating for years that requires governors to report details of state aircraft usage and spending from the Governor’s Contingency Fund.

Since he came into office in 2003, Governor Riley has voluntarily posted on the Internet the flight logs of state aircraft he uses and expenditures from the contingency fund.

During a ceremony at a Department of Transportation hangar where the state keeps the jet used by Alabama governors, Governor Riley signed the bill and praised the measure as an important tool to promote accountability in state government.

“We’ve made government more transparent and accountable than ever and this new law will help keep it that way. From now on, no matter who sits in the governor’s chair, Alabamians will know how this money is being spent, who is traveling on state aircraft and where they’re going,” said Governor Riley.

In the past, some Alabama governors had gone to great lengths to hide such information from public scrutiny. Official flight logs, when they were released, contained little, if any, information that would allow the public to discern how the aircraft was being used and who was flying on it. Contingency fund spending was handled in a similar, secretive manner.

“I never understood how past governors could say taxpayers had no business knowing how their tax dollars were being spent. Such secrecy invites abuse. It raises suspicions, and all that erodes public trust and confidence in government. Government must be transparent to earn the people’s trust,” Governor Riley said.

The bill, sponsored by Representative Mac McCutcheon, also requires annual audits of state airplane usage.

The Code of Alabama states the Governor’s Contingency Fund is intended to, among other purposes, fund “the ordinary expenses of the executive department, including but not limited to the expenses of the governor, the governor’s office and staff.”

The contingency fund information Governor Riley has voluntarily posted online includes the dates expenditures were made, the total amount that was paid to an individual, organization or vendor, and a brief explanation of how the money was used. The report is updated monthly and will continue to be throughout the rest of Governor Riley’s term, though the new law requires that it be updated only quarterly.

The information Governor Riley voluntarily discloses relating to state aircraft usage includes the date of each flight, its destination, a manifest of passengers, the purpose of the flight, and the date of the return trip. The law he signed on Friday will require the same information to continue to be disclosed in the future.

Governor Riley first made the pledge to publicly disclose contingency fund spending and state aircraft usage in the “Plan for Change” he unveiled while was running for governor in 2002.

The disclosures can be found on Governor Riley’s official website at www.governor.alabama.gov in the “Your Government” section.

In addition to posting contingency fund spending and flight logs on the Internet, Governor Riley signed an executive order earlier this year requiring details of state spending, grants and contracts to be posted online. That information can be found at www.open.alabama.gov.