John Bambenek 0

Save the Illinois Freedom of Information Act

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On February 9th, 2011, State Senator Ed Maloney filed Senate Bill 1645 which would allow units of local government to label anyone who submits "too many requests" as "vexatious" and permit them under the law to sandbag their requests. Too many requests is defined as 15 in a year or 5 in a month. There is no review or ability to sue once you are designated vexatious.

This legislation is supported by the Illinois Municipal League and several mayors, many of whom who are embroiled in controversies involving misuse of taxpayer dollars.

The Freedom of Information Act is one of the few tools left that concerned citizens have to get basic information from their government on how they are spending taxpayer dollars. Already, many of these bodies evade requests or deny requests outright. This bill would legally allow them to sandbag even further anyone who dares to insist on holding their elected officials accountable.

This bill cannot stand and if we don't speak out now, it will become the law of Illinois. Illinois needs more transparency and accountability, not less.