Update on Sunshine
Unfortunately, Illinois took two steps back in the transparency movement last week during veto session. The first occurred in a move to deny Illinois citizens the right to ask for government employee performance evaluations through a Freedom of Information (FOIA) …
New TIF in the Loop
The city of Chicago has just approved 6 million dollars in tax increment financing (TIF) for Accretive Health Inc. “to pay for job training and the build-out costs” of a new facility, which will be located at 231 South LaSalle …
School Vendor Data Available on IllinoisOpenGov!
What is your school district spending money on?
Check out some new spending data available on our spending transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org.
We have included school vendor information for you to check out! We’ll also be updating current information …
Daley Proposes Dipping into TIF Reserves to Balance Budget
Mayor Daley went forward with his plans to use TIF reserves in order to “balance” his proposed FY2011 budget, leaving it to his future replacement to tackle the inherent problems that led the city into a deficit in …
Rahm on TIF
Not many people understand tax increment financing (TIF) very well, and the lack of transparency in the TIF process, particularly in Chicago, leaves many taxpayers unaware of exactly where TIF developments are located, how many tax dollars are going …
What About That $162 Million?
Although Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, USA Today reports “there’s $162 million the website doesn’t disclose,” finding:
Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how
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Taxpayer-funded Lobbying
Do you know how much you’re paying for lobbyists?
Sunshine Review has released a paper about taxpayer-funded lobbying in Illinois, reporting information about lobbying contracts and membership in taxpayer-funded lobbying associations. Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations are groups funded at least …
Stimulus Working for You?
Section 1604 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (AARA) specifically prohibits funds from flowing to certain entertainment and recreation projects.
Does a casino, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool sound like recreation or entertainment to you?…
Teachers, Unions, and Transparency
From S.T. Karnick at The American Culture:
In case you missed it, LA Times reporters Jason Felch, Jason Song and Doug Smith used California’s public records law to obtain seven years of math and English test scores from the
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Summertime Blues
According to the Chicago Tribune, a new Congressional report called “Summertime Blues” shows stimulus funding has gone to buy iPods for high school students, cell phones for smokers trying to quit, and advertising for the stimulus itself.
