In a move to fulfill the Pledge to Americas commitment to a more transparent and accountable government, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and House Speaker John Boehner today announced the release of broadcast-quality Oversight hearing vid
The 112th Congress, which convened today, plans to adopt new governing rules for guiding the legislative process. Multiple transparency reforms are among the changes under consideration. Springfield should take a look and consider them too.
The Problem Families are watching their budgets and managing spending as efficiently as possible, focusing on necessities and eliminating unessential spending. Government at every level should do the same—while some are, others are not. In the current economic climate most municipal governments are experiencing significant declines in revenues, which has led to spending cutbacks for...
The Problem Encouraging volunteerism among Illinois’s senior citizens is a worthy goal, with many benefits for both individual volunteers and those they serve. Illinois’s Foster Grandparents Program, housed in the Illinois Department of Aging, is meant to connect “volunteers” with “opportunities for seniors to work with children with exceptional needs.” However, the program’s structure leads...
by Kristina Rasmussen Illinois Senator Dick Durbin help to vote down a proposed Senate ban on earmarks today, reports The Hill. As if tea pot museums and bridges to nowhere weren’t enough, Illinoisans had yet another reason to oppose Congressional earmarks. According to a new Cato Institute study by Brandon Arnold, Illinois is an “earmark donor state”—one that receives...
by Kate Piercy Free rides aren’t so free: According to a report from the University of Illinois, the free-rides program initiated and sent through the legislature by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich costs the CTA, Metra and Pace between $38 million and $116 million last year. On top of this, “Thousands of fraudulent free rides have been...
A newly launched Local Transparency Project in the Downers Grove Township area, by Liberty Leader Stephen Woodward, has begun to spark improvements in local government transparency. From the minutes of a recent Village of Burr Ridge Meeting comes this good news. Burr Ridge Scores High on Local Transparency Project The Illinois Policy Institute recently conducted a Local Transparency Audit in the...
by Kate Piercy Restore homes damaged by floods or throw a picnic party? Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s administration decided to use federal grant money meant for restoring homes damaged by floods to instead treat families whose homes were damaged by the floods to a nearly $79,000 party at Brookfield Zoo. The Chicago Tribune reported: The Sept....
by Wesley Fox According to the Department of Commerce and Economic OpportunityGrant Tracker website, the Little Black Pearl Workshop received a $71,000 grant to help complete the industrial arts glass studio, located at 1060 East 47th Street in Chicago. Specifically the funds were to be “used to complete the installation of a hood and exhaust system...
Recently, a Burr Ridge resident, Stephen Woodward (pictured), approached the Institute to help him examine transparency shortcomings in the conduct of his local school boards. Woodward periodically attends Hinsdale School District 86, as well as School District 181, board meetings and advocates for many of the measures outlined by the Illinois Policy Institute’s10-Point Transparency Checklist....
The Problem Previous Institute reports have shown how officials within Illinois’s legislative and judicial branches are paid significantly higher than national averages. Illinois state representatives and senators earn a base salary of $67,836—the fifth-highest legislator salary in the country. Only California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania pay their legislators more. Judges serving on the state’s...
by Kate Piercy Back in July, Gov. Quinn made an amendatory veto to HB5154, which called for the exemption of all public employee performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Illinois Policy Institute argued against this bill, saying it would threaten transparency in government by prohibiting the release of public employee performance reviews...
by Kate Piercy All interested in government transparency, check out this new website,sunshinestandard.org, created by Sunshine Review. The website aims to provide citizens and elected officials with model legislation and tools to launch reforms and expand the amount of information available about government. As Michael Barnhart of Sunshine Review explains, “State and local governments, and school districts,...
by Wesley Fox The Institute has previously put the spotlight on excessive salaries for Illinois state employees, but now it appears federal employees are also being paid quite generously. According to USAToday the number of federal employees earning $150,000 or more has grown tenfold since 2005. In 2010, approximately 82,034 federal workers earned $150,000 or more, compared to only 7,420...