Ever since Illinois rewrote and bolstered its Freedom of Information Act in 2010, government officials of all stripes have done their best to chip away at it. Such is the case with a bill vetoed this year by Gov. Pat Quinn.
As lawmakers gather in Springfield this week for the annual fall veto session, Better Government Association President Andy Shaw says this is one veto that should be left alone.
Shaw writes:
Bad ideas, unlike fine wine, don't get better with age.
And that's especially true of HB 3796, a bill that would weaken FOIA, the state's Freedom of Information Act.
It was a bad idea when it breezed through the Illinois House and Senate in May with little explanation or debate.
So a coalition that included the Better Government Association and the Illinois attorney general's office asked Gov. Quinn to veto the measure, which he did in June.
But here we are, on the eve of the fall veto session in Springfield, and there's a movement afoot to override the governor's veto, which means it's time to redouble our opposition so that doesn't happen because it's still a bad idea.
Find out exactly why Shaw thinks this would be bad news for Illinois at Reboot Illinois.
More bad news? A forensic audit in Iroquois County uncovered corruption issues, says Andrew Andrzejewski, founder of OpentheBooks.com and government transparency advocate.
An IT forensic audit of government computers allegedly turns up porn, theft of services, bid rigging, campaigning, running personal businesses, political fundraising, surfing sports websites, and thousands of Facebook posts, dating and shopping website hits.
It starts with a small felony -- a $340 donation from a government entity to a political committee, or a mayor paying for his continuing legal education with his city credit card. It ends with two former governors in jail and three federal investigations of the current governor based upon a corrupt sense of self-entitlement.
Find out the rest of the story at Reboot Illinois.
