Archive for Transparency
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Cook County Coffee Czar?
The media has been uncovering some interesting spending from Cook County’s newly launched check registry, such as this find from The Prairie Stater, which discovered $76,291 in checks paid to Elgin-based ACE Coffee Holdings, Inc. since December 2009.…
Raises in Chicago Public Schools or Not?
Check out this revealing (and entertaining) story by Chicago Reader’s Ben Joravsky about the maze of Chicago Public Schools spending and the difficulties in figuring out exactly where all the tax dollars are going and why.
Joravsky’s piece, “A …
Transparency Reveals 177% East Dundee Budget Growth in 2 Years
In 2007, East Dundee Budget was $3,961,411. In 2009, the Village’s Budget was $6,999,028 for an increase of 177% in just 2 years!
13 NW Cook Agencies Don’t Meet Transparency Standards, District 54 Gets “A”
An audit of the Schaumburg Township area in Northwestern Cook County revealed only 4 of 17 local government agencies graded received a passing grade on basic online transparency guidelines.
Health Care Bill: Obama’s Lack of Transparency
Although promising the public would have five days to look at every bill online before signing it into law, Obama has signed the health care bill just 36 hours after it passed the House.
Transparency and Teacher Layoffs
The SouthtownStar has been looking into south suburb school district spending over the last week amid growing talks of teacher layoffs and cutting school programs. The paper sent FOIA requests to 18 towns and 25 school districts asking for information …
Public Online Information Act
Congressman Steve Israel (NY-02) has introduced transparency legislation called the Public Online Information Act (POIA) which, according to the Sunlight Foundation, “embraces a new formula for transparency: public equals online. No longer will antiquated government disclosure practices bury public information …
Illinois State Sunshine Website
Illinois state government has created a useful one-stop shop website at www.sunshine.illinois.gov with the goal of bringing more transparency to the workings of your state government.
According to the website, the state created this resource by starting with “Sunshine …
Sunshine Commission Passes House
Good news from Springfield yesterday: The House passed legislation to create the Illinois Sunshine Commission (HB4836), which would create a commission “to conduct a thorough review of the relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness of each “State executive branch program.”
Rep. …
Government Salaries vs. Private Sector Salaries
USA Today highlights yet another good reason for government spending transparency:
Average federal salaries exceed average private-sector pay in 83% of comparable occupations.
Citizens want transparent government for many reasons, and being able to easily review government salaries – at …
