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12/2/2009
IllinoisOpenGov.org, gives Illinois taxpayers a tool that allows them to look at the details of state spending down to the agency, person and penny. Visit the website here.
State spending in Illinois is out of control, flooded with waste, and most citizens have a murky – at best – understanding of how the government spends tax dollars.
Few Illinois citizens know, for example, the state government spent $7,875 on “bird testing,” $20,692.24 on  “subscriptions” for the Governor’s office, or that the Department of Commerce spent $3,770 for golf carts, $2,822 on hot sauce, and $280 on soy crayons – all funded by Illinois taxpayers.
IllinoisOpenGov.org provides a comprehensive supplement to the Illinois Accountability Portal, which offers access to state employee pay, state agency expenditures, state agency contracts, corporate accountability and professional licenses.
In addition to that, Open Gov offers the following:
- Makes the details of state spending available in easy-to-use, downloadable, Excel or CSV file formats, allowing anyone to repurpose the data for their own study.
- Includes salary and benefit information for all Illinois government workers (as opposed to the state’s current site, which at this point does not include information on the legislature or benefits data).
- Provides information on payouts to retired state employees.
- Offers a blog with highlights posted regularly from the database.
- Features a forum for public conversation and offers the option for commenting on individual expense items.
Initially, IllinoisOpenGov.org will list state employee salary, retiree pensions, and vendor information. Ultimately, the site will include all state spending.
Transparency creates a more active, informed citizenry and puts pressure on government to make better spending decisions.
IllinoisOpenGov.org will be a “go to” source for state spending information and arm citizens with information they need to hold public officials more accountable, foster trust, and measure whether the state is making good or bad spending decisions.
Why This Works
With the transparency provided from IllinoisOpenGov.org citizens and the media will have better tools to join in the call for better, more accountable government.
IllinoisOpenGov.org puts the spotlight on state spending decisions, illuminates spending problems (corruption, lack of accountability, pay-to-play politics, ineffective programs, and wasteful spending) and provides a map to cleaning up and reforming Illinois government.
Download the one-page Policy Point (pdf).
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