A tougher FOIA will stem corruption

Four years after the terror attack of 2001, we published a report examining homeland security spending by state and various local governments. To let readers know how their tax dollars were being used to protect them, we sought records by filling out Freedom of Information Act requests. More than one hundred governments shared many details about the use of public funds.

But to this day, we're still waiting for specific records from Chicago and a few transit agencies.

That underscores the urgent need for a major overhaul of our FOIA law in Illinois.

The Freedom of Information Act might seem like some arcane law only media insiders care about, but every Illinois citizen can use the law, should care about it and join us in demanding it be improved. Strengthening it now is one significant step we can take toward the transparency we desperately need to help end political corruption.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's aides flouted the current weak law and refused to turn over hiring records repeatedly. But it is probably more than safe to say that the FOIA helped lead to Blagojevich's arrest and to the arrest and conviction of George Ryan and many politicians before them. The law was followed often enough and some campaign records were transparent enough, that stories the Daily Herald and many other media outlets did uncovering pay-to-play scheming led to public debate and law enforcement action.

We need our public servants to remember they serve the public. And one way to help them understand that is to write a law that makes it clear to them they will conduct the public's business in public or they will be punished.

Too often officials refuse to release what clearly is public information, or they delay and deny until citizens are worn down.

Patrick Collins, the former assistant U.S. attorney and Lisle native who chairs the Illinois Reform Commission, put it this way, "The bad guys don't want you to connect the dots."

Call your local legislators now. Demand change that makes government transparent and accessible.

As Dave Bennett, executive director of the Illinois Press Association, testified before a legislative committee, the assumption should be that documents are public, released upon request and without delay - rather than making citizens prove why information should be produced.

Those who don't produce requested information quickly should be fined and a potential jail term should be included as a possible punishment. Public officials need to fear the punishment and know the law will be enforced.

The IPA calls for a permanent, binding and independent review process for cases where government officials are not complying and a dispute cannot be resolved.

We get the government we accept. It's time we stopped accepting government shrouded in secrecy and hidden behind hurdles. We all have a right to freedom of information.