Since being appointed as the state's "stimulus watchdog" earlier this year, I've often been asked how much of the federal stimulus money we've received so far. I thought I'd take this opportunity to answer that question and to explain how it's being used.

At the time of this writing, the State of South Carolina has received just over $332 million in federal stimulus money. Seven state agencies have received these funds:

• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), $263,947,399 for Medicaid services;

• Employment Security Commission, $48,395,901 for unemployment benefits;

• Department of Education, $17,178,039 for services for at-risk students;

• Department of Health and Environmental Control, $1,767,928 for maternal and child health services;

• Department of Commerce, $832,429 for workforce development grants;

• Office on Aging, $90,646 for meals for senior citizens;

• Governor's Office, $40,545 for youth services.

State agencies and programs are expected eventually to receive about $2.8 billion from the stimulus package (all paid for by increasing federal debt and printing new currency).

Unfortunately, in their rush to pass this massive "stimulus" package, the White House and Congress seemed to devote inadequate thought to oversight. There has been much talk about transparency - but despite the fact that stimulus spending is already happening, the federal government has yet to offer clear guidelines on how the funds are to be tracked to ensure they are used as intended. States aren't even required to submit their first spending reports to the federal government until this fall. And the federal stimulus Web site, www.recovery.gov, merely offers general information and press releases about various projects.

Still, the people of South Carolina can be confident that there will be oversight of stimulus spending in our state. The S.C. Stimulus Oversight Task Force created by Gov. Sanford is committed to making sure the funds are spent with transparency and accountability.

My office is enhancing the state's stimulus transparency Web site, so that anyone with Internet access can view detailed stimulus spending with a few clicks of a mouse. We're shining a bright light on that spending. Burglars usually avoid brightly lit houses.

The stimulus plan represents record-shattering growth in government, it's laden with spending that has nothing to do with growing our economy or creating jobs, and it saddles future generations with enormous debt. But because it's now the law, our focus has turned to ensuring these funds are spent without waste and misuse, and that people have easy access to the details. Citizens deserve to conveniently see how these funds are being used in South Carolina.

The Comptroller General's Office is responsible for the distribution and accounting of public money. Eckstrom is also a certified public accountant and a former state treasurer.