New Illinois law to speed up government transparency

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill into law last week that will make updates to the state government transparency website happen quicker.

The bill, signed into law last Monday, moves responsibility for posting data to the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal to the governor’s office and mandates all state departments develop a plan to more quickly get its data posted and updated.

The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Mike Tryon who created the portal five years ago with another bill. The portal includes information such as state employee pay, state agency expenses and contract and local government financial reports.

The governor will appoint a chief information officer from among his existing staff to oversee the changes, and to handle requests from citizens who cannot find the information they are looking for online.

The original version authorized the governor to create the position, but the Senate amended it to ensure the officer is an existing employee.

The Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal can be found at accountability.illinois.gov.