Unions Attempting to Take Away Public’s Right to Know in Illinois

From the Illinois Policy Institute…

Earlier this year, the House and Senate passed HB 5154, a union-backed bill which would permanently take government employee performance evaluations out of the public sphere. Read more about why this matters to watchdogs like you.

Governor Pat Quinn issued an “amendatory veto” that rightly narrowed the scope of the bill (only police performance records would be off limits). However, today the House voted to override his veto.

Our very own Director of Government Reform Kate Piercy notes, “If the Senate agrees, performance reviews will be sealed forever. Goodbye transparency.”

Some unions, including AFSCME, are working overtime keep government employee performance reviews secret. What do they have to hide, especially since they just signed a no-layoff deal with Governor Pat Quinn during the campaign?

If the Governor’s veto is overridden in the Senate, it will erode the ability of citizens and news outlets to expose mismanagement, misconduct, waste and corruption.

Kristina Rasmussen, our Executive Vice President, provides the latest information from the statehouse in this Capitol Update:

If public transparency matters to you, Senators need to hear about it. You can find your state Senator’s contact information here.


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