Online transparency measures advance in Illinois
A key portion of the Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, the posting of audits online, has made its way through the Illinois General Assembly. House Bill 5503 passed both Illinois House and Senate unanimously, and now awaits the governor’s signature. If signed into law by the governor, HB 5503, introduced by state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon,...
A key portion of the Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, the posting of audits online, has made its way through the Illinois General Assembly.
House Bill 5503 passed both Illinois House and Senate unanimously, and now awaits the governor’s signature.
If signed into law by the governor, HB 5503, introduced by state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, would require all counties with a website to post the county’s comprehensive annual financial audits, or CAFRs, and management letters online.
As its name suggests, a CAFR is a comprehensive analysis of government finances that is reported annually. According to state law, the reports must be completed within 180 days of the end of a fiscal year. The report is assembled in a standard format according to rules created by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, or GASB.
Management letters are usually presented at the beginning of a CAFR report and disclose key findings and recommendations prepared by auditors including comments if the entity is appropriately following the accounting requirements of GASB and adopting appropriate record-keeping practices.
Both of these documents are critically important to elected officials, the general public and the media in understanding what a local government does and where it collects and spends its revenues.
HB 5503 also requires auditors to address the board about the annual audit findings at a public meeting, giving elected officials and the public additional opportunities to understand county finances.
The bill is very likely to be signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn. We believe this requirement should be extended to all local governments in Illinois, not just counties. However, this bill is a very good step in the right direction.
We applaud Demmer and state Sen. Michael Connelly, R-Naperville, for sponsoring an important online transparency bill that will fight government corruption and provide the public with a meaningful opportunity to get better acquainted with government finances and the auditing process.
Another key portion of the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, providing contact information for elected officials, is found in Senate Bill 3106, which has passed both houses unanimously. An amendment has been sent back to the Senate for concurrence.
SB 3106 requires all local governments with a website, and that serve a population of less than 1 million, to provide an electronic communication method with elected officials.
The bill introduced by Connelly would require many Illinois communities to provide an online method of communication for their residents to contact elected officials. Surprisingly, even though March 12, 2014, marked the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web, many communities still leave this information off their website.
With the part-time nature of many local offices, most elected officials don’t have office hours or a dedicated phone lines to communicate with the public. By having an electronic communication option online, it will give citizens who are unable to meet with legislators in person a critical way to communicate their views on the important issues facing a community.
With the bill passing unanimously, it is very likely a version of the bill will pass the concurrence process and make its way to the governor’s desk.
We applaud Connelly for introducing this law, along with state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, state Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, state Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove, and state Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, for co-sponsoring the bill.
Unfortunately, other transparency bills didn’t meet the same fate.
House Bill 4803, the Local Government Transparency Act, did not get out of committee.
State Rep. Sullivan, R-Mundelein, introduced the Institute-inspired Local Government Transparency Act, which builds on the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist. The bill would require local governments serving a population of more than 5,000 or more than 500 students to have a website and to post key financial and participatory information online. The items that would be required to be posted include;
- Contact information for elected officials and senior administrators
- Public records reported to other government agencies
- Agendas and board packets posted online 48 hours prior to meeting
- FOIA procedures
- Annual budget & appropriation ordinances
- Building permits & Zoning
- Any budget, financial audit, audit schedule or special project report
- Detailed employee compensation
- Taxes and fees
- Rules governing the award of contracts
- Bids and contracts in excess of $25,000
- Debt disclosure report
- Public notices
- Searchable monthly check register
If this legislation passed, Illinois would have one of the strongest local government online transparency policies in the entire nation, and it would go a long way in deterring and exposing government corruption. Recent rankings showed Illinois as the third most corrupt state in the nation and the worst ranked for trust in state government.
The Institute rallied a number of coalition supporters for the bill including: Illinois PIRG, For the Good of Illinois, Open Local Illinois, Americans for Prosperity-Illinois and Truth in Accounting. Significant bipartisan support for the bill was found. Unfortunately, due to a key committee hearing being canceled, the bill did not meet a legislative deadline, but momentum was built to help pass the legislation next year.
In addition to Sullivan, we thank state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, and state Rep. Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago. Separately, Ives also introduced similar online transparency bill in both 2013 and 2014.