Local governments must maintain certain financial records, but not all make it easy for taxpayers to obtain it. A bill headed to the Illinois House floor would put local government financial records online.
Through collective bargaining agreements with the state, government-worker unions require access to workers’ social security numbers – even if those workers are not members of the union. A bill protecting worker privacy recently failed to get enough votes to pass out of committee.
No other state’s constitution or labor laws are like Illinois’ – broadly allowing government unions to override statutes simply by negotiating contrary provisions into collective bargaining agreements. Illinois may not be alone for long.