Illinois legislation that would create a more transparent, all-in-one Web portal where the public can view all state spending is on its way to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
House Bill 35 passed out of the Illinois Senate, 54-0, Friday afternoon without any floor debate. It moved with similar ease in the Illinois House last month.
The legislation is designed to create a central location for easy public access to state expenditures, tax credits, state contracts, and state employee salaries.
Lawmakers say the searchable online database also could help
encourage the elimination of wasteful spending and pay-to-play corruption.
“It’s about time,” said state Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-McHenry. “There’s been a drastic shift in philosophy under the new administration. This kind of now seems like an afterthought, whereas two years ago, the [Gov. Rod Blagojevich] administration had tried to stop everything in moving forward with this legislation.”
The Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity and state Rep. Mike Tryon together had crafted the bill, which fought frequent opposition before Blagojevich’s impeachment and removal from office earlier this year.
Tryon said he expected the system – named the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal, or ITAP – to be up and running within about a year.
“I think it’s a great, giant step forward for the beginning of reform,” said Tryon, R-Crystal Lake. “I think we will continue to add to it in the future.”
Tryon compared the portal to a few other state government-related ones across the country, such as SeeThroughNY and Kentucky’s Open Door. However, unlike the latter, ITAP will post state employee salaries to the Web.
“This will go a long way in gender discrimination because all of those dollars will be online,” Tryon said. “It’ll also go a long way with keeping patronage in check.”
The portal will be sorted by recipient and by representative district.
If signed into law, it must be established by the state Department of Central Management Services by Jan. 1, 2011.