Missouri’s government spending transparency received a “C” rating in a report released Tuesday by the Missouri Public Interest Research Group, a St. Louis-based consumer advocacy group.

The report, “Following the Money 2013: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” graded all 50 states on their degree of publicly-available government spending documentation. Missouri ranked 21st, earning a “C” grade and classification in the “Emerging States” category, according to the report. Twenty-two other states were also considered “emerging” in terms of spending transparency.

Emerging states have launched transparency websites with checkbook-level information on contracts and some other expenditures, the report states. However, they also provide minimal information on state expenditures outside usual accounting systems.

“State governments across the country have become more transparent about where public money goes, providing citizens with the information they need to hold elected officials and businesses that receive public funds accountable,” MoPIRG spokesperson Alec Sprague said in a news release. “But Missouri still has a long way to go.”

Missouri’s accountability website, [www.mapyourtaxes.mo.gov](http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov/MAP/Portal/), provides information on state contracts, economic development tax credits and other expenditures financed by taxpayers, but it doesn’t provide details on state grants and off-budget agency spending.

This is the second consecutive “C” grade for Missouri.

Since the first report four years ago, the number of states providing checkbook-level detail on individual government expenditures has risen from 32 in 2009 to all 50 this year. A total of 48 states provide a searchable database of these expenditures — only California and Vermont do not.

In addition, 39 state transparency websites now provide information on tax code deductions, exemptions and credits, all types of government expenditures. Three years ago, only eight provided this information online.

Sprague said that with the progress being made nationwide to improve state-level spending transparency, Missouri needs to continue improving in order to keep pace with the rest of the country.

“The state of Missouri should improve the breadth and ease-of-access of online government spending information,” Sprague said. “Given our state budget problems, Missourians need to be able to follow the money.”

Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Oklahoma were the only states to receive “A” grades. According to the report, these states earned the high marks because of the completeness of spending data they include on their transparency websites, including data on development subsidies, tax code expenditures and semi-public agencies that may not otherwise appear on a budget document.

Missouri officials, as well as their counterparts in 47 other states, met with MoPIRG and its parent organization, USPIRG, to give feedback on their initial evaluation of the websites, Sprague said.

“Open information about the public purse is crucial for democratic and effective government,” Sprague said. “It is not possible to ensure that government spending decisions are fair and efficient unless information is publicly accessible.”