“The Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal was developed to shed light on spending within state government, but it is no less important that taxpayers are aware of how dollars are spent in local communities,” Franks said. “Under this expansion, local municipalities and counties will have to open their books to their residents.”
The new legislation calls for a searchable database of all county, township and municipal employees be added to the existing Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal. The data would be searchable by unit of local government, current pay rate, year-to-date pay and employment position title. The new database will be available through the ITAP, which Franks worked with state Rep. Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) to create in 2009. The ITAP currently contains information on state employee pay, state agency expenditures, corporate accountability, professional licenses and state agency contracts.
“Government, at all levels, must be accountable to the people,” continued Franks. “The culture of corruption and backroom deals must come to an end. Sunshine and openness must become the rule, not the exception, in Illinois.”
The Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal is available at: http://accountability.illinois.gov/ .
3 comments:
I'd love to see this expanded to include the sweetheart deals past politicians are enjoying at taxpayer expense.
Will Grafton township have to open its book to the public?
Is the "State" legislature exempt from this? Wouldn't surprise me if they were.
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