Delegate Kelli Sobonya will join West Virginia State Auditor J.B. McCuskey at his stop in Huntington to promote increased transparency and open government through the statewide roll-out of the West Virginia Checkbook transparency website.

McCuskey is visiting counties throughout the state, encouraging local governments and county boards of education to participate in the website, found at wvcheckbook.gov. Here, the public can view and track revenue and spending for state agencies.

Sobonya, R-Cabell, will join McCuskey at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 23 in the Cabell County Commission Chamber, where she will urge participation in the transparency website. Sobonya said now, more than ever, is the time to shine light on government spending.

“Having served on the Judiciary Committee, which adopted Articles of Impeachment of four Supreme Court justices, now more than ever, we need to shine the light on wasteful government spending,” Sobonya said. “I am, therefore, joining State Auditor McCuskey on Thursday morning in the County Commission Chamber to urge our current county commissioners to vote now to require Cabell County’s participation into this very important budget and spending tracking program.”

“This is too important to wait until a later time or after the November elections,” Sobonya added. “Every day wasted is one less day for the public to better hold their elected leaders accountable and to help identify and eliminate government duplicity and waste, fraud, and abuse.”

The West Virginia Legislature in the most recent legislative session passed the Budget and Spending Transparency Act, aimed at combatting waste, fraud, and misuse of public funds through investigations, accountability, and transparency. Sobonya said she was glad to see this bill incorporated in the open checkbook initiative.

“Gone are the days when politicians can spend the public’s money with little to no transparency and accountability,” Sobonya said. “Revenue at any level of government belongs to the people and it’s imperative elected officials spend it wisely.”