IN a flurry of Gov. Brad Henry's bill signings this week, one that mustn't go unnoticed is his approval of the Taxpayer Transparency Act. Within two years, anyone with a computer and Internet access can take a digital tour of state spending. That's open government at its best.

State government will spend in the neighborhood of $7 billion of taxpayer money in the coming fiscal year. But deciphering in any meaningful way how that money will be spent isn't easy. Most of the time, we're left to rely on public officials to provide data, and that's not good enough.

The bill creating a searchable state spending Web site received unanimous support from the Legislature. Henry's signature came despite a call from The State Chamber to quash it over concerns it may harm economic development. There's plenty of time to address the chamber's worries while moving forward with the site.

This effort at making government spending more transparent was a highlight of the recent legislative session. The idea came from U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who authored federal legislation to let taxpayers "Google their tax dollars.” Plenty of other states are traveling down this transparency track, including Kansas, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, according to Americans for Tax Reform.

The Oklahoma site is set to go live in January with the state's financial information, but it may take another year before the site will be searchable. The delay gives state leaders time to identify and fix any potential problems with disclosure. Chamber officials said they don't want information about economic incentives like tax credits to be open to the public out of fear such disclosure will scare away investors. That's a valid concern but not worth holding up the bill. Whether the objections trump the public's right to know how government is spending tax dollars needs more discussion.