Making government more transparent has been a
hallmark of Sam Cahnman’s political career.
In 2002, Illinois Times reported how the freshman member of the Sangamon
County Board wanted to tighten up laws to protect would-be whistleblowers.
Fellow board members were less than enthusiastic about the idea.
More recently, Cahnman has been trying to do away
with the part of the Illinois Government Ethics Act that requires county
clerks to notify elected officials when anyone looks at a rep’s
statement of economic interest, which must be filed before May 1 each year
by candidates and incumbents.
Under the current law, each time somebody requests an
official’s financial statement, he or she must fill out a form that
asks for the person’s name, address, telephone number, occupation,
and reason for the request. A copy of the form is then mailed to the
official.
Cahnman, who still serves on the County Board,
received such a letter from the Sangamon County clerk earlier this year and
says it was a surprise because he thought that the law had been taken off
the books long ago. However, he learned that the provision had only been
eliminated only for state, not local, officials.
“From a personal-parochial interest, sure,
I’d like to know who’s looking at my economic-interest
statement, but I think it’s bad public policy,” Cahnman says.
So in March he drafted a bill, HB 2455, and convinced state Reps. Mike
Boland, D-East Moline, and Paul Froehlich, R-Schaumburg, to sponsor it.
The law, the sponsors say, needs to be changed
because individuals may be afraid to inspect public financial records for
fear of drawing the ire of officials. That fear, they say, inhibits the
free flow of information.
“The theory is to let the sun shine in,”
Boland says, “by putting everything out in the open and then letting
voters decide if they want a public official who, for example, acts in his
own financial interest as opposed to the governmental entity they are
serving.”
The bill, which rocketed through both chambers of the
Legislature uncontested, is awaiting signature by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2005.
