NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:  Nancy Beaton

nbeaton@nicusa.com

913-754-7054

New http://www.transparent-gov.com Web Site Provides Comprehensive View of Government Transparency Initiatives across the Country

Budget spending, Stimulus spending, lobbyist spending, legislative tracking, and more can all be found at http://www.transparent-gov.com

OLATHE, Kan., – March 26, 2009 – With the recent passing of the Federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, governments are now working hard to monitor and report on the spending of those dollars, and share that oversight with taxpayers. But transparency does not begin or end with the federal stimulus money. Governments across the country are providing online services that offer insight into budget spending, lobbyist spending, legislative tracking, and more.

A one-stop source for accessing this information just launched today --
http://www.transparent-gov.com is a free resource that tracks the transparency services offered by federal, state, and local governments nationwide in their efforts to make information more available to citizens. The site offers links to online transparency, stimulus, and recovery initiatives and allows users to suggest additional content through a public feedback link.  

The site was created by NIC. Based in Olathe, Kansas, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV), is the nation’s leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions.

“There is a new level of interaction between people and government that is taking place online, as demonstrated by the recent presidential campaign,” said Harry Herington, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of NIC. “In this era of digital democracy, people expect immediate access to information and this new site provides that.”

Current types of information available on the new site include:

• Stimulus & recovery tracking tools:  Online services that track the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 spending by state, agency, category, and recipient
• Open books:  An expanded view of state financials that includes a description of the budgeting process, appropriation information, annual and monthly spending by agency, and types of expenses.
• State checkbooks:  Interactive and searchable online databases that display state revenues and expenses by fiscal year. 
• Budget allocation tools:  Interactive solutions that allow citizens to view the state’s current budget, adjust spending levels by buckets, and submit recommendations to the governor’s office.
• Government ethics, campaign finance & lobbying disclosure:  Services that offer anonymous reporting of government fraud or abuse and show campaign finance contributions and gifts reported by elected officials and registered lobbyists during a given reporting period.

Those in the public sector work hard to do what’s best for the businesses and citizens they serve, which is clearly shown by the hundreds of transparency initiatives you will find on the transparent-gov site,” continued Herington. “We support the ongoing effort to build online services that help governments operate in a more open manner and to provide access to this information to all Americans.”

The Transparent-gov.com site is also accessible via mobile and has been optimized for the iPhone and the Android operating system.

About NIC

NIC is the nation’s leading provider of official government portals, online services, and secure payment processing solutions.  The company’s innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens, and businesses across the country.  NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,900 federal, state, and local agencies that serve more than 70 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.nicusa.com.

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