Good Government

Of Coffers and Kiosks: Where Are Your Tax Dollars Being Spent?

Of Coffers and Kiosks: Where Are Your Tax Dollars Being Spent?

by Alex Miller Today, businesses and jobs are leaving Illinois, thousands of students are trapped in underperforming schools, and the state unemployment rate is 8.7 percent.  In such conditions, Democrats and Republicans alike should be calling on their state government to be responsible in determining where to allocate scarce state resources. Yet, during this present malaise of economic...

CMS Fights Workers’ Compensation FOIA Request

CMS Fights Workers’ Compensation FOIA Request

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson In December, the Menard Correctional Center became infamous after theBelleville News-Democrat revealed almost $10 million in workers’ compensation paid out to more than half the staff of the facility. The high incident of workers’ compensation claims have prompted multiple investigations at the federal and state level, and the increased scrutiny of the claims has resulted in...

$50,000 for a Glorified Bulletin Board

$50,000 for a Glorified Bulletin Board

by Kristina Rasmussen We told you about a $100K state grant to put up two informational kiosks in Springfield in a Spotlight on Spending report: $100,000 for Touch Screen Kiosks in Springfield The DCEO gave Downtown Springfield Inc. $100,000 for touch-screen kiosks to “provide information on local historic sites, restaurants, retail shops, services, hotels, recreational facilities, maps...

By Chris Andriesen

An End to Taxpayer-Funded Advertising for Politicians?

An End to Taxpayer-Funded Advertising for Politicians?

by Brian Costin One of my biggest pet peeves of all times is how some politicians have an insatiable need to put their name on things at the expense of the taxpayers. The open road tolling signs with former Governor Blagojevich’s name and the Richard M. Daley signs at O’Hare Airport come to mind. However, a...

Willowbrook Wins Transparency Award

Willowbrook Wins Transparency Award

by Brian Costin At the Village of Willowbrook board meeting on April 11th, the Illinois Policy Institute awarded a Certificate of Achievement to the Village Board for their participation and success in the Institute’s Local Transparency Project. “As of an audit on April 8, 2011, the Village of Willowbrook’s transparency score is an 86.8 out of 100. This...

School District 86 Makes Excuses on Transparency

School District 86 Makes Excuses on Transparency

by Brian Costin Recently, as part of our Local Transparency Project, we conducted an audit in the Downers Grove area of 16 government agencies for proactive online transparency. One of those agencies was Hinsdale Township High School District 86. They scored only 49.4 out of 100 possible points. It’s disappointing that a public body whose job it is...

SB37: The Local Government Transparency Act

SB37: The Local Government Transparency Act

The Problem Taxpayers deserve to know information about the governments they fund. Illinois has thousands of units of local government, but key information about most of them is not readily available to average citizens. Technology has created an unprecedented opportunity for governments of all sizes to make information publicly available at no incremental cost. While...

By Brian Costin, Collin Hitt

Why Nancy Thorner Is a Proud Liberty Leader

Why Nancy Thorner Is a Proud Liberty Leader

Recently, we asked some of our more active Liberty Leaders to let us know what they are up to and what has made them successful in their efforts to promote liberty around the State of Illinois.

Institute in Decatur Herald and Review

Institute in Decatur Herald and Review

The Decatur Herald and Review published wrote about the Illinois Policy Institute's "Transparency Checklist" in an editorial about Sunshine Week.

School District 86 Makes Excuses on Transparency

School District 86 Makes Excuses on Transparency

In a democracy it is especially important that citizens have access to information so they can actively participate in government and make good choices on Election Day.

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