What a difference six months makes.

A Washington, D.C.-based non-profit said Tuesday that Minnesota made some of the biggest strides among all states in giving taxpayers information on how federal stimulus money is being spent in the state.

In a report released Tuesday, Good Jobs First said Minnesota now ranks 4th nationally in a scoring system that evaluated how much information state officials were providing taxpayers on federal stimulus spending in the state. When the non-profit released its first report last July, Minnesota ranked 34th.

The non-profit said Maryland, Kentucky and Connecticut posted the top scores, followed by a three-way tie between Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In moving from 34th to 4th, Minnesota trailed only Kentucky and Illinois in making the biggest strides in providing taxpayers more federal stimulus spending information.

The non-profit's full report can be viewed here.

Minnesota's website is here.