DISCLOSURE & TRANSPARENCY

Disclosure
The Late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once famously wrote, "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants." And while it may not be the best, it's certainly one of the most necessary. Transparency and disclosure are critical to our campaign and political system because they empowers the public with information needed to make informed decisions while also discouraging wrongdoing.

Campaign Finance
Illinois recently took meaningful steps to add much-needed transparency to its campaign finance system. With the passage and enactment of Senate Bill 1466 in late 2009, candidates and political committees soon will be required to file quicker campaign expenditure and contribution reports, including the year-round disclosure of any contribution of more than $1,000. And some people who gather multiple contributions for committees, commonly referred to as "bundlers," will need to be made public as well. These new disclosure requirements mean that Illinoisans will have more timely access to campaign finance information, including during the critical days before an election. For more information, please visit our page on campaign finance.

Lobbying
Lobbying is another area of Illinois government that could stand additional sunshine. Until recently, the Lobbyist Registration Act required the state's roughly 2,200 registered lobbyists to do little more than register annually, disclose the names of clients, and provide brief lists of expenses. These limited disclosures leave the public largely in the dark about the politicians and state officials being lobbied, the issues being discussed and the financial terms under which lobbyists operate. The Center for Public Integrity recently ranked Illinois 45th in an evaluation of registration, spending, transparency and enforcement requirements in state lobbying statutes. ICPR supports disclosure enhancements to Illinois' lobbying statute. The state made some progress in May 2009 with passage of Senate Bill 54. Those improvements included in that legislation require more frequent disclosures of lobbyists' expenditures, especially during legislative sessions. The financial issues surrounding lobbying, however, remain under a cloak of secrecy. Organizations and individuals lobbying state government should be required to disclose the terms of their contracts with clients including all fees paid.

Statements of Economic Interest
Illinois requires public officials and certain state employees to report their occupation, employer, and significant financial holdings. Such reporting requirements guard against conflicts of interest and inform the public about potential external economic influences. However, the SEI form used by the state is extremely vague, and is much less specific than similar forms demanded of federal officials. Indeed, a review of recent SEI filings found that 75 percent of the respondents simply checked "none" or "not applicable" throughout the exercise. Illinois' citizens need to know more about the economic lives of elected officials, candidates and public servants if they hope to vote intelligently and evaluate the motivations of government representatives. ICPR favors reforms that would require Illinois officials to make the same disclosures applicable to those working in the federal sector. Such statements should be available for review on the web and SEI data should be searchable. Finally, these SEI requirements should be extended to non-incumbent political candidates.

Freedom of Information Act
The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, the state law intended to guarantee the public access to government documents, received a much-needed overhaul during the 2009 spring legislative session. The new law makes a number of critical improvements to FOIA and its partner, the Open Meetings Act. In recent years, some governmental units have misinterpreted or altogether ignored the law by illegally denying access to records that were supposed to be open and accessible to the public. The new law seeks to ensure compliance by:

  • shortening the amount of time public bodies have to respond to FOIA requests to five business days from the current seven-day allowance. The legislation also shortens the extension public bodies can grant themselves to five days from the current seven.
  • mandating that courts award attorneys’ fees to records-requestors who successfully sue for access to open records after illegally being denied access to them. The current law gives judges discretion to award attorneys' fees, which means that people who take their records requests to court -- and win -- might be left to foot their attorneys' bills.
  • requiring designated government employees to complete annual FOIA and Open Meetings Act training to educate them about state law and help ensure compliance.
  • strengthening enforcement provisions by allowing courts to impose civil penalties for public bodies that intentionally disregard the law.
  • making permanent the position of Public Access Counselor, or PAC, within the Attorney General’s office, and grants the counselor power to help resolve FOIA disputes. The PAC will have the power to issue both advisory and binding opinions as to whether requested records are public.


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