From the Bloomington Pantagraph (Editorial):

Monday, October 29, 2007

Taxpayers should welcome tool to 'folllow the money'

Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, working with the State Board of Elections, has found a way to help voters "follow the money."

Do you want to know the amount of money donated to political campaigns by those who receive state contracts?

Go to the new Web site developed by Hynes' office - www.openbook.ioc.state.il.us - and type in the contractor's name.

You will find information on the amount of the contract, the agency awarding it and the contract number. Right next to that you will find a list of political contributions made by the contractor and its employees.

You can also type in the name of a campaign contributor and see whether they have any state contracts.

Just because a contractor or its employees make political contributions that doesn't necessarily mean those contributions affected the awarding of a contract. However, this is public information that should be made readily available to taxpayers to make up their own minds.

Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, "Sunshine is the best disinfectant."

Shining a light on this information can help fight so-called pay-to-play politics and clean up corruption.

The contracting information is similar to what would be required under House Bill 3, although not as detailed. The information required under HB 3 would be put together by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget.

"The comptroller believes the more information that is out there for the people to know the better it is," said Hynes spokeswoman Carol Knowles.

Contract information was already available from the comptroller's office and campaign contributions are listed on the Board of Elections Web site, www.elections.il.gov .

The advantage of the "open book" site is having the contract and contribution information side by side. The disadvantage is that a future comptroller could decide to drop this public service.

HB 3, bottled up in the Rules Committee by Senate President Emil Jones, still should be approved.

Likewise, another ethics bill held hostage by Jones - House Bill 1, which would limit campaign contributions by state contractors - also should be approved.

Meanwhile, the open book Web site is a good tool for following the money and raising questions about whether there is a connection between contributions and contracts.

We commend Comptroller Hynes and the Board of Elections for working together to make this information readily available without waiting for legislative mandates.

But we still want Jones to allow HB 1 and HB 3 to come to the Senate floor for a vote.