Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has succeeded in taking down a serious threat to the fight against drug abuse – coffee mugs that look like prescription drug bottles. Madigan, along with attorneys general from more than 20 other states, sent a joint letter on May 22 to Urban Outfitters CEO and Chairman Richard A. Hayne regarding the...
by Brian Costin Illinois is notorious for government corruption. Since 1976, the state has had the third-highest amount of public corruption convictions in the country — including four out of the last seven governors. Outside of Springfield, things aren’t much better. Chicago has been called “the most corrupt city in America.” A report by the University of Illinois-Chicago and...
by Brian Costin One of the best protections against corruption is transparency, and in today’s digital age one of the easiest ways for government to be open and accountable is through posting public documents on the Internet. Unfortunately, most Illinois counties need to dramatically improve when it comes to online transparency. Last week the Illinois...
One of the best protections against corruption is transparency, and in today’s digital age one of the easiest ways for government to be open and accountable is through posting public documents on the Internet. Unfortunately, most Illinois counties need to dramatically improve when it comes to online transparency. The Illinois Policy Institute recently audited all...
One of the best protections against corruption is transparency, and in today’s digital age one of the easiest ways for government to be open and accountable is through posting public documents on the Internet. Unfortunately, most Illinois counties need to dramatically improve when it comes to online transparency. The Illinois Policy Institute recently audited all...
by Andrew Wyatt This year, Washington Park lost $300,000 of taxpayer money meant to cover village workers’ paychecks. The village also has not filed any financial reports, audits or tax statements to the comptroller’s office for the last seven years. The village of Washington Park, which is near East St. Louis, is no stranger to...
In a recent Facebook post, a local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, called a government pension transparency initiative by the Illinois Policy Institute “offensive.” From AFSCME Local 427’s Facebook page: Bills Amended to Address AFSCME Concerns Assault on State Retiree Privacy (HB 1040 – Rep. Tryon/Sen. Althoff) This bill establishes...
If taxpayers don’t file their tax returns by April 15 each year they could face stiff penalties from state and federal government. But what about when government fails to file its financial report to the taxpayers on a timely basis? According to the Government Accounting Standards Board, or GASB, government agencies should release their financial...
by Brian Costin The Illinois Policy Institute has long been a supporter of strengthening the Open Meetings Act, or OMA, and Freedom Information Act, or FOIA. Unfortunately, OMA and FOIA often come under attack by the Illinois General Assembly. The most recent assault is in the concealed carry bill that recently passed the House and Senate, and awaits Gov....
by Andrew Wyatt In April 1917, Ella Fitzgerald was born, the United States joined World War I and the first board meeting of the newly organized village of Mount Prospect was held at William Wille’s Hall. And if you wanted to, you could pull up the minutes from this inaugural meeting online. That’s because the...
Tucked in during the Illinois General Assembly’s special session to discuss the state’s pension crisis was a proposal to give a corporate giant a special tax break. According to the State Journal-Register, OfficeMax Inc. is asking the state of Illinois for tax breaks to keep the company’s headquarters in-state after the office supply chain’s merger with...
by Andrew Wyatt The village of Bedford Park has had some trouble managing its red-light camera program and posting traffic safety statistics online in the past several years. In a rush to implement its red-light camera program, village officials pulled an “Animal House” and mistakenly used boilerplate language on the village’s website: “The purpose of this...
Earlier this year we looked at the Illinois Auditor General’s findings on Southern Illinois University and the entire state university system. Overall, we found a disturbing lack of compliance with state and federal law. But SIU was one of the lone bright spots, tying Illinois State University for the fewest amount of compliance violations with six...
by Brian Costin Park Ridge Mayor Dave Schmidt wants to improve online transparency and is using the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist as a best practice benchmark for his city in northern Cook County. As mentioned in the Park Ridge Journal: Schmidt has four items on his list including the city meeting the transparency checklist created...