Open Illinois.org

An article in the Chicago Daily Observer today made an important point in the push for transparency in state government.

Bill Dwyer discusses two proposed bills that would help the government work around the Open Meetings Act and reverse a positive trend towards openness in our government.

Fortunately, both of the bills were killed in committee, yet Dwyer sought to figure out why the bills were proposed in the first place and who stood to gain from their passage.

Not surprisingly, he learned the bill got moving because of the work of a couple well-established lobbyists.

Lobbyists fill an important role in American democracy by contributing information and representing constituents or organizations who otherwise may not feel represented.  Yet, because of this position, many lobbyists enjoy considerable influence over the direction of policy, and some use their position and influence unethically to produce favorable outcomes (see: Jack Abramoff).

Because of this, Dwyer argues that government transparency should include all actors involved with creating and passing legislation.  In order to have an adequate understanding of a piece of legislation, the public needs to know what the bill is, where it came from, and who got it there.  When we only concern ourselves with the actions of lawmakers, we miss a big part of the puzzle.

Transparency for politicians is a great first step, but corruption and misinformation in Springfield cannot be curbed without an accurate understanding of the behind-the-scenes work.  As Dwyer points out:

“I don’t care a whit that there are lobbyists working to get a given bill passed…I care that no one outside a select few who spend the majority of their time in Springfield know any of the details about it. I want the rest of us…to know the general details of what they’re doing, to have access to the sort of information that would allow us to knowledgeably check up on people—both the elected and non-elected. That would constitute a huge step toward genuine open government.”