South Carolinians who want to see where federal “stimulus” dollars are going can now do so with a few clicks of a mouse.

On Sept. 17, my office began posting specific stimulus spending details on the Web, making information about federal stimulus spending in South Carolina easily available to anyone with Web access. We are one of just a small handful of states nationwide to put individual stimulus expenditures at people’s fingertips. (At the time of this writing, we know of just three other states that have done so.)

Web users can view the stimulus expenditures by logging on to my office’s Web site, www.cg.sc.gov, or the state’s official stimulus site, www.stimulus.sc.gov. The information provided is arranged like a checkbook, and there are three separate files. One file is sorted by the state agency spending the money, a second is sorted by the purpose of the expenditures and a third is sorted by the vendor or recipient being paid with the money.

The information will be updated monthly.

So far, state government agencies and programs have received more than $600 million in federal stimulus funds. About three quarters of that money has gone to the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicaid payments and to the Employment Security Commission for unemployment benefits. More than $3 billion in stimulus money is expected to pass through state government.

Putting stimulus expenditures on the Web is in keeping with my office’s mission to improve spending transparency, so that people have easy access to information about how public money is being used. When people can see how public money is spent, those spending the money are usually more accountable. They make better decisions knowing their decisions will be scrutinized by the public.

If shining a light on public spending is important under ordinary circumstances, it’s even more important now. Such a swift and massive infusion of cash invites opportunities for waste, mismanagement and even corruption, so there must be ample oversight and transparency.

The stimulus was bad legislation, and I’d be willing to bet that the majority of our state’s citizens (myself included) opposed it. At the very least, South Carolinians deserve the peace of mind that proper controls and transparency are in place to ensure stimulus expenditures receive much-needed scrutiny. Failure to have oversight measures in place would be to tempt fate, and the last thing our nation needs is more stories of waste and abuse, which would even further erode public confidence.