Headlines in June show why Chicago is considered one of the most corrupt cities in the world.

House Bill 5522 would require local governments and school districts in Illinois to maintain websites with links to vital public information such as budgets, expenditures and officials’ names and numbers.

Wheatland Township’s “transparency portal” provides residents access to important government information.

Rolling Meadows provides its residents access to vital government information through the city’s “transparency portal".

By creating a website with easily accessible information about the district’s governance, meeting schedule, employees, budget and other functions, Coal City Community Unit School District 1 scores high marks for government transparency.

One of the best protections against government 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. Illinois needs to strengthen online transparency standards to fight government corruption and wasteful spending practices, especially given its troubled history...

With great fanfare, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced an executive order requiring city contractors and concessionaires to pay their employees no less than $13 per hour. The move was highly touted in both the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, as well as a number of other publications and television news broadcasts. None of these...

The village of Wilmette is a leader when it comes to online transparency of local governments in Illinois. It recently became the seventh local government in Illinois to score a perfect 100 percent on the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist. With nearly 7,000 local governments in Illinois, Wilmette’s score places the village in the...

In 2010, the Illinois General Assembly unanimously affirmed the right of citizens to speak at public meetings in stating: “Any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established and recorded by the public body.” In a sense, McLean County is complying with this state rule. In reality, county officials...