Check out the Illinois Policy Institute’s new transparency site and spread the word!

Find a description of the site here: http://www.illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=1765

Here is the link to the new site: http://illinoisopengov.org/

As always, if you’re interested in learning more about TIFs, transparency and more, contact me or Kate. We’re happy to run you through the policies so that you can better communicate them to your friends, neighbors and elected officials.

Will this be the tipping point?

Will our elected officials take a stand?

Robert Grant, FBI special agent in charge of the Chicago office, just said “If it [Illinois] isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s certainly one hell of a competitor. Even the most cynical agents in our office were shocked.”

What happens now?

Transparency would help inject direly needed sunshine into government spending and shine a light on the pay-to-play politics, corruption, and insider deals swallowing up our state. After this monumental arrest, how can elected officials say no to implementing transparency?

It’s the first step to cleaning up Illinois and weeding out the corruption killing our state and driving families and businesses into poverty or out of Illinois.

Well, that’s what Illinois government is doing: operating without an x-ray and functioning in the dark.  The state budget continues to face a daunting deficit, out-of-control spending, and lacks the tool (transparency) to measure what programs work and what programs do not.  The state has little accountability in its decision-making process, and corruption charges and pay-to-play politics have further tainted any trust left in elected officials.

Our Solution 
Illinois should implement a comprehensive transparency program that would inject sunlight into the budget process and open up the books in an online searchable database. The site would provide a complete, itemized and clear description of all the state’s expenditures including, but not limited to, all contracts, vendors, and grants. In addition, all expenditures would have a detailed account of the payment’s purpose and who authorized the payment.

As a first step to getting Illinois back on track, transparency would help alleviate the long list of problems facing Illinois and assist in reforming current Illinois government into a better, more accountable and open government.  Transparency not only cleans up government spending and fosters accountability; it is also the foundation of ethics reform in Illinois. 

Why This Works
Transparency in government allows the public to look inside the details of government spending and helps them more clearly understand where tax dollars go – and to whom.  Right now, the public, and most legislators, have little to no idea where money ends up or whether programs are working well or poorly. Implementing transparency is the first step to making Illinois government more cost-efficient, accountable and aware of its spending decisions. 

Educating both the public and legislators about how government spends tax dollars makes it easier to expose corruption and pay-to-play politics. Transparency allows people to connect the dots and see who is asking for money, who authorizes what spending, and who benefits from the funding.  Unless government implements transparency and stops the waste, it cannot perform its core functions as well as it could. Transparency offers a viable solution to the problems in Illinois government.  Enacting it will provide the much-needed x-ray machine that will illuminate the sickness (corruption, lack of accountability, pay-to-play politics, ineffective programs, and wasteful spending) and provide a map to cleaning up and reforming Illinois government. 

Download the entire brief here (PDF).
Download the Policy Point summary here (PDF).

We’ve updated our “Who’s Posting Expenditures in Illinois?” list today to include the Highland Park D133 school district and the Naperville Park District. View all of the government entities that are posting their check registers online here. Also, send us a tip if there are any government bodies that are missing from the list. ]]> http://www.openillinois.org/features/whos-posting-list-updated-5/feed/ 0 http://www.openillinois.org/features/whos-posting-list-updated-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whos-posting-list-updated-2 http://www.openillinois.org/features/whos-posting-list-updated-2/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:14:08 +0000 Kara Beth Vance http://www.openillinois.org/?p=340 We’ve updated our “Who’s Posting Expenditures In Illinois?” to include Coal City Community Unit School D1.  We have also included links to the relevant pages on all entities that are already online.  Those entities that have voted but are not…

There is no limit to how many documents a citizen can request through FOIA or how frequently they can petition. 

But sometimes citizens exercising their right to know about their government run into some difficulty. This can mean waiting weeks or even months before they receive the information they have requested.

Other times citizens may run into government officials who become weary of making public information available to those who ask for it. This appears to be what has happened with Riccardo A. Mora of Norridge, Illinois in his project to learn more about the operations of his local school district.

Mora has issued 21 FOIA requests since February 2008 to Ridgewood High School District 234. “I decided to investigate, gather facts and quotes from reliable sources…[and present] that information to my neighbors for their consideration,” says Mora.

Mora requested numerous items from the school district, including expenditures, capital plans, audits, and notices. He is interested in seeing just how the district spends taxpayers’ money prior to a November vote that will determine whether property taxes will increase to fund the schools.

On September 29th, Mora received a letter from the law firm Schartz, Lipton and Taylor of Chicago, which notified him that the school district had retained the firm in the matter of his FOIA requests.

In the letter (PDF), the district’s lawyer wrote that Mora was abusing the FOIA and that his requests may not be fulfilled.

The Act is not intended to be used for purposes of furthering personal gain. See 5 ILCS 140/1…Your numerous FOIA requests demonstrate that you are mis-using FOIA as a vehicle to address personal issues rather than public interest…The use of FOIA to further a personal rather than public need is clearly an abuse of the Act…We are writing at this time to make you aware that we will work closely with the District to scrutinize and future FOIA requests propounded by you upon the District to insure they are within the spirit of the Act.

The statute that the lawyer cites is the Illinois FOI law. She writes, correctly, how FOIA requests are not supposed to disrupt the work of the government body from which a citizen requests information.

This Act is not intended to be used to violate individual privacy, nor for the purpose of furthering a commercial enterprise, or to disrupt the duly‑undertaken work of any public body independent of the fulfillment of any of the fore‑mentioned rights of the people to access to information. 

The lawyer claims that a district staffer spent 20 hours fulfilling Mora’s FOIA request to prove how this interfered with the operation of the office. However, 20 hours of an employee’s time spread over a two week period hardly interferes with the normal operation of the school system.

In fact, being accountable to the citizens of the district is right up there with making sure that kids are being taught well, so public disclosure is part of the “duly-undertaken work” of the district.

The lawyer’s main claim, however, is that Mora is sending FOIA requests to further himself in some way. The letter claims that submitting a FOIA request for “personal gain” is outside of the act’s parameters. However, the only mention of “personal” anything (not pertaining to personal privacy) in the Illinois FOIA is in 5 ILCS 140/6–Authority to charge fees:

(b) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the person requesting the documents states the specific purpose for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit.

There is no mention whatsoever in the statute of the phrase “personal gain.” The petitioner’s motives are mentioned nowhere in the Illinois FOIA law.

A citizen can request a document for personal benefit, it seems, but he or she will have to pay for the reproduction of the document(s). Mora has already paid to have numerous documents reproduced, and is now requesting a refund for being overcharged (PDF).

Regardless of his reason for asking the information, Mora is entitled to the information he is requesting, and the Ridgewood High School district should provide him with it.

Additionally, the district should seriously consider posting its financial data in an accessible format on its website. Once all of the information is online the district may face the prospect of fewer FOIA requests and will increase the level of trust between the citizens and the school. A great number of school districts are already posting their expenditures and budgets online. See a list of transparent government school districts here.

There’s no doubt about it–FOIA has advanced the cause of government transparency, but it’s not necessarily a speedy solution. It does take time for staffers to complete citizens’ FOIA requests. People are entitled to know what their government is up to, and the combination of new citizen interest and new technology make it easier and more affordable than ever for government to implement comprehensive transparency policies.

I have gotten about ten responses from superintendents, most of whom were not aware of the school code, which brought attention to the fact that the Education Board does not do a good enough job letting school districts know about new laws. Most of the superintendents who have called have been very responsive and eager to figure out how to post expenditures online. Some have the obstacle of having relatively low-tech websites but are working on getting expenditures posted. Although many superintendents were receptive to my argument about posting all expenditures, two who contacted me think just posting expenditures of $25,000 and over is good enough.

The letter went into the mail right before the start of the school year, so once the school year gets into full gear, I hope more calls will come in and look forward to helping more school districts become fully transparent for the benefit of the school district and the communities that fund school district operations with tax dollars. 

August 4, 2008

President or Superintendent
School District
Address
City, State Zip

Dear John Smith: 

A relatively new Illinois School Code (105ILCS5/10-20.40), which applies to your school district, took effect in January 2008. I am writing to make sure you are aware of this regulation so that you do not find your school district in noncompliance. I also write to let you know about the work the Illinois Policy Institute has taken up in the last few months, which may help you understand what steps you must take in order to fulfill the requirements of this Illinois School Code.  

Under the requirements of Illinois School Code (105ILCS5/10-20.40), school boards must report on their existing websites all contracts over $25,000. The following explains the law in full:   

< Sec. 10‑20.40. Report on contracts.
(a) This Section applies to all school districts, including a school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. 
(b) A school board must list on the district’s Internet website, if any, all contracts over $25,000 and any contract that the school board enters into with an exclusive bargaining representative.
(c) Each year, in conjunction with the submission of the Statement of Affairs to the State Board of Education prior to December, 1 provided for in Section 10‑17, each school district shall submit to the State Board of Education an annual report on all contracts over $25,000 awarded by the school district during the previous fiscal year. The report shall include at least the following:
  (1) the total number of all contracts awarded by the school district;
(2) the total value of all contracts awarded;
(3) the number of contracts awarded to minority owned businesses, female owned businesses, and businesses owned by persons with disabilities, as defined in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Females and Persons with Disabilities Act, and locally owned businesses; and
(4) the total value of contracts awarded to minority owned businesses, female owned businesses, and businesses owned by persons with disabilities, as defined in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Females and Persons with Disabilities Act, and locally owned businesses.
    
The report shall be made available to the public, including publication on the school district’s Internet website, if any. >

The Illinois Policy Institute has been working to bring more transparency to school districts throughout the state of Illinois with the great help of volunteers, including Adam Andrzejewski of For the Good of Illinois.  A large part of this effort involves asking school boards to post all expenditures online in an itemized, easily searchable database.  Just as you can open your personal bank account online and look up your spending activity, the database would provide the details of every tax dollar spent. The site would provide a complete, itemized, and clear description of all expenditures, including but not limited to all contracts, vendors, and grants. All expenditures would have a detailed account of the payment’s purpose and who authorized the payment.

For example, the Collage of DuPage, the largest single-campus community college in the Midwest with an annual budget of nearly $140 million, posts its check register online. Other, smaller school districts, like Huntley D158, Carpentersville D300, and Elmhurst D205, post their check register and understand how it benefits both the school and community. As Huntley Superintendent John Burkey put it, “Posting promotes transparency about what we’re spending taxpayers’ money on, and we have had absolutely no problems with public inquiries.”

Illinois School Code (105ILCS5/10-20.40) demands school districts post all contracts over $25,000. However, the Illinois Policy Institute thinks school districts should post all expenditures. Why stop at 25K? Clearly, you must post your school district’s contracts exceeding 25K according to the law, but we ask you to take a step beyond what you’re required to do. Make all your expenditures open to the taxpayers who make the operation of your district possible. Posting a check register costs nothing, takes little time, and restores the community’s trust in public officials. 

If you have any questions about posting your check register online, please feel free to contact us. You can check this link to see how other school districts in Illinois are already posting: http://www.illinoispolicyinstitute.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=410.  You can also check www.forthegoodofillinois.org for more information about posting online.  Please let us know whether you are in compliance with Illinois School Code (105ILCS5/10-20.40), and if not, your plans to meet (or go beyond) the requirements. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

Kate Campaigne
Director, Transparency Policy
Illinois Policy Institute
kcampaigne@illinoispolicyinstitute.org
312-346-5700 x204

cc: Adam Andrzejewski, Director, For the Good of Illinois    
Download a copy of the letter here (PDF).