Illinois Proposal Seeks Transparency for Organizations Receiving State Grants
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Illinois Proposal Seeks Transparency for Organizations Receiving State Grants
- A proposal supported by Darren Bailey's campaign aims to classify non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving at least $10,000 or 20% of their total funding from the state as "public bodies," subjecting them to Illinois' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act.
- This initiative, backed by Bailey's running mate Aaron Del Mar, seeks to extend the same transparency requirements applied to government agencies to hundreds, if not thousands, of private entities.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey’s campaign is advocating for increased transparency from non-governmental organizations that receive state grant money. The campaign is supporting stalled legislation that would require NGOs receiving at least $10,000 or 20% of their total funding from the state to comply with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act.
This proposed change would classify these private entities as “public bodies,” making them subject to the same rigorous record-keeping and disclosure requirements as government agencies. Aaron Del Mar, Bailey’s running mate, stated in a Monday interview that while other levels of government in Illinois are subject to FOIA, there is currently no way to track how state funds are spent once they are disbursed to NGOs or vendors.
The legislation, sponsored by three members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus, was introduced in February but has not advanced beyond the House Rules Committee. Currently, executed state contracts can be accessed through public records requests made to state agencies, and some records held by grantees directly related to services performed for the state are already subject to FOIA. If passed, the proposal would likely also mean that meetings held by these organizations would be open to the public under the Open Meetings Act.
The Illinois Freedom of Information Act,