For Immediate Release – April 1, 2008

Contact: Joe Calomino, (847) 204-8514 

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) will be joined by Rep. Mike Tryon and several other citizen organizations on Thursday to unveil an AFP-led coalition letter and rally support for Rep. Tryon’s legislation that would bring greater transparency to the state budget process. House Bill 4765, which is now in its third reading, would create an online, searchable database of state spending that would essentially allow citizens to “Google” their tax dollars. The legislation takes its inspiration from a successful bill on the federal level sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.) and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) that created the website USAspending.gov <http://www.usaspending.gov/> .
 
“We believe that government should have nothing to hide from the taxpayers who fund it, and this push for state spending transparency is driven by that belief,” said AFP Illinois Director Joe Calomino. “This bill is about our government restoring trust to taxpayers.”
 
“Taxpayers have a right to see how their tax dollars are being spent. In a corrupt culture where political handouts are being regularly exchanged for state contracts, it is essential that we foster an environment where our state is held accountable. A transparent government is a better government,” Rep. Tryon said.  

WHO:

·   Representative Mike Tryon

·   Joe Calomino, Illinois Director, Americans for Prosperity

·   Sandra Fabry, State Government Affairs Associate, Americans for Tax Reform

·   Greg Blankenship, Director, Illinois Policy Institute

WHAT: News conference to unveil coalition letter in support of HB 4765

WHEN: Thursday, April 3; 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: State Capitol, Blue Room, Springfield, Illinois

House Bill 4765 would create the Illinois Accountability Portal, which would create a website that includes comprehensive information about state spending, state employees and their pay rates, state contracts, state tax credits and all revocations and suspensions of state occupation and use tax certificates.
 
Americans for Prosperity is a state and national leader on transparency issues. AFP was instrumental in ensuring passage of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, sponsored by Senators Coburn and Obama, which created an online federal spending database. AFP has also played a key role in passing transparency legislation on the state level in both Kansas and Oklahoma. In Illinois, AFP is working toward transparency at all levels of government, including a push to create county-level government spending websites.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is the nation’s premier grassroots organization committed to advancing every individual’s right to 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 http://www.americansforprosperity.org/

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