CHICAGO – On the heels of their statewide transparency project, promoting an online database that brings more transparency to county government and their grassroots support for transparency in state government (HB 4765), the Illinois Chapter of Americans for Prosperity announced that they will be highlighting a “Pork Project a Day” via the AFP-IL weblog.

“The Pork Report”, which can be found at http://porkreport.blogivists.com, is a weblog edited by members of the AFP team in Illinois and will feature regular guest posts from grassroots activists across the state.

“Each day for the rest of the summer, the “Pork Report” is going to make you aware of a pork project, brought to you by lawmakers, paid for by the taxpayers of Illinois”, said Joe Calomino, AFP-IL state director.

With an opaque budget process and virtually no government transparency, Americans for Prosperity is urging the citizens of Illinois to visit our weblog to find out how their dollars are being spent and to report pork projects that are popping up in their communities.

“Taxpayers front the costs of wasteful spending while state government racks up more and more debt. At the start of Fiscal Year 09, Illinois will have $1.7 billion in unpaid bills, mounting Medicaid and pension debt and a revenue shortfall of more than $500 million. AFP-IL hopes that the “Pork Report” will shed some light on how our tax dollars are really being spent. We need leadership, we need budget reform, we need fiscal discipline, we need transparency and we need accountability from our lawmakers. As election time nears, voters must take note and demand change in how state government and lawmakers spend our tax dollars”, Calomino said.

To learn more about the efforts of the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity, go to www.afpil.org or to http://porkreport.blogivists.com, home of the “Pork Report”.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org.