Hawaii is the second most improved state in the nation when it comes to providing public online access to government spending, according to an annual study released Tuesday.

Hawaii got a C grade, 71 points, in "Following the Money 2014: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data," which ranks states by how accessible or "transparent" government spending information is online. Last year the state received an F grade, 39 points. Before last year, Hawaii had consistently maintained a C grade.

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund began tracking spending transparency five years ago. Last year marked the first in which all 50 states operated websites to make information on state spending easily accessible to the public.

According to the PIRG report, Hawaii now offers comprehensive "checkbook-level" spending information online.

"(Checkbook spending) is an intuitive idea that citizens want to have the same information on government spending that they have in their checkbooks — how much money went to whom and for what," said Phineas Baxandall, a PIRG senior analyst for tax and budget policy.

On behalf of Hawaii’s Office of Information Management and Technology, Gov. Neil Abercrombie lauded the state’s progress in promoting an open government.

"Technology is ever-changing, and state government needs to adapt along with it," Abercrombie said in a statement.

"An open government promotes citizen engagement in their government that bolsters government accountability and transparency. The PIRG report demonstrates Hawaii’s clear progress in this regard as well as this administration’s commitment to transparency. Hawaii was among the most improved over the last year, and we are on track to improving further."

Abercrombie continued, "I applaud our state departments and agencies for releasing more than 300 datasets since our Office of Information Management and Technology launched Hawaii’s open data site."

In the past year, Hawaii was one of eight states that launched a new transparency website, transparency.hawaii.gov. The PIRG report praised the website as a "one-stop" source for expenditure and financial information. Last year’s report criticized the state for not having an easily searchable data website.

The just-released report noted, however, that Hawaii offers "almost no information" online about economic development subsidies and was one of the few states to get zero points on that matter. In addition, all states lost points for failing to provide information on quasi-public agencies.

"Following the Money 2014" ranked nine other states with a C grade. Among the top-ranked states were Indiana, Oregon and Florida. Idaho, Alaska and California received F’s. Wisconsin was the most-improved state, jumping from an F to an A.

The standard for spending transparency changes every year, Baxandall said, and improvements are being made briskly. He said even if Hawaii’s grade drops to a C- or lower in next year’s report, it may not mean less transparency. Rather, it might simply indicate that the state is improving its online access at a slower pace than other states. Hawaii’s failure to keep up with the rest of the country resulted in last year’s failing grade.

Encouraged by Hawaii’s improvement, Baxandall said, "We hope Hawaii will have a B or even an A score next year."

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On the Net:

» The report can be found at uspirg.org/reports/usp/following-money-2014.