HB4241 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 16277 RJF 31400 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB4241

Introduced , by Rep. David McSweeney

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Open Illinois Checkbook Act. Requires the Comptroller to establish and maintain a publicly accessible database to be known as the "Open Illinois Checkbook" for the purpose of showing all of the expenditures made from any State fund. Provides further requirements for the establishment, use, and operation of the Open Illinois Checkbook. Defines terms. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Open Illinois Checkbook Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Expenditure" means any payment, disbursement, or purchase made by a State entity.

"State entity" means the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the State of Illinois, including its departments, divisions, agencies, constitutional offices, public bodies, and public universities. The term does not include units of local government, school districts, or community colleges.

"Vendor" means a person or entity that sells, leases, or otherwise provides goods and services to any State entity and receives reimbursement from that State entity for the goods or services provided.

Section 10. Open Illinois Checkbook.

(a) No more than 6 months after the effective date of this Act of the 100th General Assembly, the Comptroller shall establish and maintain a publicly accessible database to be known as the "Open Illinois Checkbook" for the purpose of showing all of the expenditures made from any State fund. The Open Illinois Checkbook shall be maintained within the Internet website operated by the Office of the Comptroller, and access shall be free and open to the public. All relevant State entities, including, but not limited to, the Department of Innovation and Technology, shall consult with the Comptroller in the establishment of the Open Illinois Checkbook and the fulfillment of the requirements of this Act.

(b) Each entry in the Open Illinois Checkbook shall at a minimum contain the following information categories, which shall be searchable by the user by individual category or multiple categories per search:

(1)the amount of the expenditure;

(2) the date the expenditure was paid;

(3) the vendor to which the expenditure was paid;

(4) the State entity that made the expenditure; and

(5) the salaries of each State employee.

The Comptroller may, by administrative rule, provide additional information categories to be searchable by users under this subsection (b).

(c) The Open Illinois Checkbook shall allow users downloadable access to the following information:

(1) access to a searchable database of all expenditures;

(2) access to each expense category of the State, including the Comptroller accounting code, if any, for a specific class of good or service;

(3) access to aggregated classes of expenditure data; and

(4) access to the total expenditures paid to a specific State vendor or State employee.

The Comptroller may, by administrative rule, provide access to additional information to be downloadable by users under this subsection (c).

(d) The Comptroller shall develop and publish graphical representations of data contained in the Open Illinois Checkbook for the purpose of enhancing and organizing the data therein. The Comptroller shall determine the format of these graphical representations by administrative rule.

(e) The Comptroller shall accept comments from the public on the Open Illinois Checkbook and its implementation, and shall publish an annual selection of these comments. The selection shall reflect public opinion that both praises and criticizes the implementation. Nothing in this subsection (e) shall require the Comptroller to publish public comments that are obscene or otherwise irrelevant to the subject of the Open Illinois Checkbook.

(f) The Comptroller shall not be required to publish in the Open Illinois Checkbook any expenditure that is confidential under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. The Comptroller and his or her employees shall be legally protected from liability concerning the inadvertent disclosure of a confidential record that was posted despite its eligibility to be kept confidential under the Freedom of Information Act.

(g) No later than the 10th day of each month, each State entity shall convey expenditure information to the Comptroller for inclusion in the Open Illinois Checkbook concerning expenditures made by that State entity during the preceding month. Each State entity required to convey information to the Comptroller under this subsection (g) shall also provide a link on its Internet website to the Open Illinois Checkbook.

(h) No later than March 31 of each year, the Comptroller shall report on the implementation and the performance of the requirements of this Act, including statistics on data made available and frequency of public usage. The report shall be made available to the public, and copies of the report shall be delivered to the Governor, the President and Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of State in his or her capacity as the Illinois State Librarian.

(i) The Comptroller shall adopt any administrative rules necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this Act under the provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.