Follow the Money! (How to do it in Your State)
A Citizen’s Guide to Using FOIA / OPRA for Real Transparency
A Citizen’s Guide to Using FOIA / OPRA for Real Transparency
(Defender of the Republic) - Most people think government transparency requires lawsuits, leaks, or insider access.
It doesn’t.
Every state has a public records law often called FOIA, OPRA, or Public Records Requests that gives ordinary citizens the legal right to see how taxpayer money is spent.
I recently used this process to request grant and funding records from multiple state agencies. No special credentials. No media outlet. Just lawful requests asking a basic question:
Where is public money actually going?
Not press releases.
Not headlines.
But real grants, real contracts, and real payments.
This post is a simple guide so anyone, in any state, can do the same.
Step 1: Pick ONE Department (Here’s Where to Start and Why)
You don’t need to request everything at once. Start with one department. These agencies control most discretionary and pass-through funding in…