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The total amount of spending that Sunshine Review uncovered for . But this is clearly only a partial figure. The real number must be exponentially more. In a purely unscientific fashion, the amount spent on lobbying between 2005-2010 in Cook County is more than twice as much at $1,559,980, considering the 3 years of contracts not disclosed and not even considering membership in .

From my very subjective perspective, wasn’t stonewalling me. They just didn’t prioritize their resources or time to respond to my request. Which is just as unacceptable as them having done it on purpose, because the result is the same: citizens and journalists having to go through rings of fire in order to get information that rightfully belongs to them.

There’s always room for improvement when it comes to transparency and taking your constituents seriously, and Cook County is no excuse.

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Today, Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill which will lower the fees charged for . Now letter size documents are capped at $.05, and legal sized at $.07, compared to the previous per document.

I can’t believe that the state got away with $0.75 per document prior to this bill. Have you run into fees equal to or lower than this? If so, please let us know in the comments section.

Also, if you’d like to discuss this bill further please make sure to join us and Scott Hodes, from this Friday on .

H/T: @

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Last week, Sunshine Review released a study showing over by . $6.2 million is a lot of money no matter how you look at it, and regardless of the benefits and consequences of taxpayer-funded lobbying, this information should be : governments should tell citizens upfront how much they’re spending on lobbying, why, and what they’re lobbying for.

The numbers uncovered by Sunshine Review are significant. Even more significant is the fact that they aren’t complete totals for the counties, only partial figures.

For example, one of the most open counties was . Champaign was the only county that didn’t find Sunshine Review’s request “unduly burdensome” and sent information for all of the county. Most people don’t consider the sheer size of a county: a county has several departments and agencies, not to mention offices of individual officials. And most counties wont accept a FOIA request for countywide information. But Champaign County as a county-wide request, and sent it to all of its departments and offices asking them to comply. This was the only county I did not have to negotiate my request with. For most counties, my original request was cut back greatly after several phone calls and e-mails. Champaign, however, just sent me information, including e-mails between lobbying entities and the county.

Even then, it was unclear whether has no contracts or whether they just didn’t send any. Every separate department in the county responded to the individual items I requested, but there was no general letter explaining what was and wasn’t applicable to the county. This is not a complaint about the county’s response, about which I’ve been gushing throughout this blog; rather, it’s a complaint about the complicated, convoluted nature of public records requests for items that should be public in the first place. After requesting lobbying records from counties, I should be able to answer whether a county contracts lobbyists or not. But I can’t, not conclusively.

This uncertainty makes it clear that while our report shows a good picture of lobbying in Illinois counties, it is not a complete picture. And citizens and journalists shouldn’t have to guess where their money goes: governments have a duty to report to us.

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Gov 2.0 and the transparency movement have done nothing but gain momentum over the past few years, but even transparency activists tend to butt heads over the brand cialis way to implement it. And while there are many, many arguments, the one that I run into most is v. .

Earlier this week the brand cialis posted an article asking why the state comptroller handed out based solely on posting checkbook registers online. Why not consider public record response rates? Many governments are happy to create fantastic websites and then decline FOIA requests based on their mood.

The long and short of it is that both matter. You need to proactively disclose government data and you need government to repsond honestly and promptly to citizen requests. I don’t fault the comptroller for recognizing one aspect of transparency, especially since it’s similar to what we do at Sunshine Review. Instead I’d hope that constituents and other organizations will take the reins to demand prompt responses to public records requests. After all, what’s stopping us?

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State and local governments are not transparent in how taxpayer dollars are spent and the people’s business is conducted. An especially good example is taxpayer funded lobbying.

is the use of public funds to lobby for even more taxpayer dollars. Taxpayers pay twice for this: not only do their hard earned dollars pay to hire lobbyists, but citizens must also foot the bill for the increased government spending resulting from the “successes” of these special interests.

Most citizens have no idea that tax dollars are spent to hire lobbyists because without , taxpayer-funded lobbying is rarely shared with citizens or journalists. Only through time consuming (and frequently frustrating) is this information pried from the government.

Beginning in March, 2010, Sunshine Review sent Freedom of Information Act requests to all . In an , data from the 10 most populous counties alone shows $6.2 million dollars spent between 2005 and 2010.

The Sunshine Review analysis looked at lobbying contracts and membership in taxpayer-funded lobbying associations. Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations are groups that are funded at least in part by public dollars. In turn, they lobby for the collective interests of government bodies. In total, 31 lobbyists represent the counties, and the counties hold at least 69 memberships to taxpayer-funded lobbying associations.

What’s needed is a higher standard of transparency in state and local government. State legislation and local ordinances requiring —not only in but around the country—would help citizens scrutinize spending.

Government transparency saves money: it prevents fraud and it brings light to questionable spending. Perhaps the $6.2 million spent in lobbying by Illinois counties is justifiable. But who is to say? The people who can truly answer that question, citizens, are being denied their voice in government by having this information kept from them.

Visit Sunshine Review for more information and for county specific data.

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A few months back, the released a report heralding the transparency of on the state’s disclosure of its taxpayer-funded lobbying.

is just what it sounds like: lobbying funded by citizens’ money. Local and state governments use public funds, which come from tax dollars, to lobby for legislation and to attempt to gain money from other governments.

Not much is known about this process, which is why the about Minnesota’s disclosure. Every year, the Minnesota state auditor releases the , which details the cost of lobbying by entities in the state. The report includes payments to taxpayer-funded lobbying associations, as well as contracts with lobbyists. A very good job of , especially considering the archives for this information go back to 1989.

Or so it would seem. The nonprofit recently released a report highlighting the federal lobbying spending of 26 public entities in the state. The entities spent $5.2 million since 2006 .

So what’s the problem? Federal lobbying . According to the Freedom Foundation president, this needs to change:

“It’s critical that taxpayers have an understanding of how much their local governments are spending on lobbying,” he said. “It is important for them to know how much their cities and counties are spending to lobby legislators in St. Paul. It stands to reason it is just as important for them to know how much they are spending to lobby congressmen in Washington, D.C.”

That makes perfect sense. Minnesota should be lauded for its efforts in being accountable to its citizens, but in transparency, there’s always room for improvement. Federal lobbying should be disclosed as readily as state and local lobbying is. Minnesota will be all the better for it.

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The called out federal agencies at the in Washington, DC today. “almost entirely useless,” said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

The organization has launched its own website, , which has found that roughly half, or , in spending has misreported on government websites.

Miller did not stop at USASpending.gov, but also criticized and for equally bad reporting.

Which begs the question, how can we guarantee the government will report accurately? What checks and balances can be put in place to keep government reporting honest? We’ll see what the summit decides, but I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on the subject.

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earned an overall “C” transparency grade for information available on their websites according to an analysis conducted by Sunshine Review, a pro-transparency group.

Sunshine Review employs a “10 Point Transparency Checklist” to assess state and local government websites on proactive disclosure of government information. The checklist measures content available on government websites against what should be provided. Checklist items include information about budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, background checks, audits, contracts, academic performance, public records, and taxes.

No school districts earned an “A” and thirty other school districts earned “D” or “F” transparency scores. Seven school districts, including Alexandria Public Schools, earned the state’s highest transparency grade with a “B.”

President of Sunshine Review Michael Barnhart believes school districts should proactively disclose their spending, saying “It is crucial for parents and taxpayers to have access to complete information about how school districts operate.”

Sunshine Review is a non-profit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency. Sunshine Review collaborates with individuals and organizations throughout America in the cause of an informed citizenry and a transparent government. Since its inception in 2008, Sunshine Review has analyzed the websites of all 50 states, more than 3,140 counties, 805 cities, and 1,560 school districts.

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Radley Balko draws attention to secrecy at the , , and .

The Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington police departments are among . Their application of the allows them to turn down nearly all requests for information, as was made clear by a series of reports by reporter Michael Pope.

There is obviously something wrong here. With , the presumption should be on disclosure. Unlike some instances of information withholding, the officials of these departments seem to be well aware of the fact that they are infringing on citizens’ right to information. Their attitude says it all, according to Balko:

Police were not only stingy with information; they were smug and arrogant about it. When asked why she couldn’t release the name of a Virginia police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man last November, Fairfax County police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings replied, “What does the name of an officer give the public in terms of information and disclosure? I’d be curious to know why they want the name of an officer.”

The attitude of the spokeswoman is completely opposed to citizens’ rights. There are exemptions to the Freedom of Information Acts (), and there are instances where the case can be made for withholding information.

But the department isn’t making a case. It is claiming its authority as an excuse to keep information that is public by its nature secret, such as a public official’s name, because it can. And it doesn’t have to answer to you.

There’s more information to better paint the attitude of these departments:

After [reporter Michael] Pope’s first article on the lack of disclosure, Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Randolph Sengel, the city’s elected chief prosecutor, responded with a sneering, condescending letter to the editor brimming with contempt for outsiders who try to hold law enforcement agencies accountable. “Last time I checked there were multiple safeguards in place to assure the integrity of the criminal justice system,” Sengel wrote. “Conscientious and dedicated judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and law enforcement officers work in a system which is as transparent as it needs to be…The sacred ‘right of the public to know’ is still (barely) governed by standards of reasonableness and civility.”

The “right of the public to know” is in quotes.

The public does have a right to know. And this right is, basically, sacred. The government is directly accountable to taxpayers. While checks are in place within to make sure public bodies act ethically, the most important check is the ability we have as citizens to demand answers from the people we pay to look after our interests.

Here’s hoping the hard work of reporters, like Mr. Pope, continues shining light on irresponsible police departments’.

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Almost every politician in California was ready to jump on the “Let’s bash Bell” bandwagon, but now that legislation calling for salary transparency is in the senate, . The latest legislation would require that brand cialis municipal employees post their and state level employees as well.

The California senators are considering addressing the issue with an internal rule, which would be more flexible and easily changed.

If the California legislature was so eager to expose municipal salaries, then they should also be comfortable placing the same transparency standards on themselves. The legislature should worry less about how it’ll reflect on their campaigns, and more about what is right for Californian constituents.