New state law goes after government secrecy

SPRINGFIELD - When a Wheaton taxpayer wanted to know how much his local public school superintendent made, his freedom of information request was rejected by Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 on the argument that the records were part of private personnel files.

The denial sparked a lawsuit that went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, where justices earlier this year said the public had a right to know about former superintendent Gary Catalani's $306,000 salary and how much other public employees make.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday cited the school district's handling of the situation as "clearly an absurd interpretation" of public records law, one that she and others hope is eliminated with a new standard taking effect Jan. 1.

"We will end the culture of secrecy," said Madigan as she and other proponents watched Gov. Pat Quinn sign the law Monday.

Quinn said the overhaul of the Freedom of Information Act will wipe out long-standing loopholes and end government stonewalling of legitimate public requests for information. He said he often experienced the problems of getting access to public information when filing such requests as a private citizen.

Beginning in January, school boards, cities, park districts, state agencies and other government entities in Illinois will have to turn information over more quickly or possibly face the wrath of a newly empowered public information advocate in the attorney general's office.

Terry Pastika, director of the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, called the new open records laws among the "strongest in the country." She said it will make it easier for the average citizen to "really learn how their government is operating."

The new law gives government entities five business days rather than seven working days to respond to requests for information, the overwhelming majority of which come from regular taxpayers, not the media, recent studies have found. Those who dawdle and fail to meet the deadlines would be barred from charging for copies if they later turned over the information.

Anyone who believes government is keeping public information secret or ignoring legitimate requests for information can ask the attorney general's public access counselor to step in. If that counselor takes up the case and the government body still doesn't comply, the attorney general can subpoena records and make legally binding rulings on whether the information should be made public.

Those who willfully withhold public records could face fines up to $5,000.

The law is intended to reiterate in stronger fashion that the people of Illinois have a right to government information, spelling out in one provision that "all records in the custody or possession of a public body are presumed to be open to investigation or copying."

Governments that think otherwise have the burden of proving why the information should be kept secret.

Illinois law in this area has been riddled with complicated exceptions and loopholes. Dozens of different types of information have been exempted from public disclosure, from some personnel records, as is the issue in the Wheaton case, to answer keys for state-administered tests, to the home addresses of a city's police officers. Exactly how these exemptions are used has led to conflict and confusion.

Madigan noted the legislation calls for educating government information officers at all levels about how the new law works and should be applied. She and Quinn called the law crucial in winning back the trust of Illinoisans after so many government scandals.

"We do not want to see our state dragged into the mud," Quinn said.

But the Illinois Municipal League, which represents local governments, has said it has "numerous concerns" with the new law, pointing out that the final version was rushed though with, ironically, little chance for public input or review.

In a recent letter to Quinn, the league's executive director called the proposal "unworkable" and said complying with the new requirements would be so burdensome that it would lead to police and firefighters being laid off so cities and villages can hire more attorneys and others needed to meet the requirements of the new information law.

"We're still gravely concerned," league attorney Roger Huebner said Monday. "While everyone's heralding this as some kind of progressive change, when we read the bill we see this as a step backward."

In addition to overhauling the state's Freedom of Information Act, Gov. Quinn also signed a law that puts state employee salaries, state contracts and other information on line at http://accountability.illinois.gov/.

For instance, visitors can quickly find out that Quinn was last paid on July 31 and so far this year his gross pay has been $111,667.41.

"This portal will list all employees' salaries, all contracts, all expenditures," said Crystal Lake Republican state Rep. Mike Tryon, one of the proposal's sponsors.