Illinois Counties responding to SR information requests

I’m currently in the middle of requesting lobbying information from all Illinois counties, including membership and dues information for taxpayer-funded lobbying associations. I wrote yesterday about the fogginess involved in taxpayer-funded lobbying, and I’m hoping that this next step of getting counties’ information will help clear up that fog—add some sunshine, if you will.

As I told some of the county officials I spoke with, this isn’t a “gotcha!” operation. Sunshine Review believes in affirmative disclosure and we recognize that transparency is the best way to keep government accountable to its citizens. We see it more as a preventative step rather than a sting operation.

(Incidentally, one thing I didn’t mention in my blog post yesterday about the Pacific Research Institute’s new study on taxpayer-funded lobbying is that transparency prevents corruption, and transparency is the mark of a non-corrupt government. Regardless of what comes first, it’s good transparency comes with good things.)

As a result of the new FOIA law in Illinois currently being contested, I’ve actually received most counties’ replies and am working on sorting through them. One county has actually found it “too burdensome.” I’ll hold off posting the guilty party’s name until I follow up with them and see if we can’t work something out, but generally speaking, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how responsive and helpful Illinois county officials have been in getting me information. This is truly in the spirit of collaboration.