Rep. Ryan Spain highlighted the report that ranks Illinois the bottom five among all 50 states when it comes to financial transparency. | Facebook
Rep. Ryan Spain highlighted the report that ranks Illinois the bottom five among all 50 states when it comes to financial transparency. | Facebook
A nonpartisan think tank’s report gave Illinois poor marks in financial transparency.
Truth in Accounting’s Financial Transparency Score Report focuses on important-but-obscure annual financial reports filed in the 50 state capitals, with the current analysis based on fiscal year 2020, according to Patch.
The highest score a state could get is 100, but no state has registered a perfect score, Patch reported.
A score of 80 or more is considered noteworthy.
“If they tax you, they have to prove they are spending our money honesty, efficiently, and in ways that help people who have real needs,” OpenTheBooks.com CEO Adam Andrzejewski told the website AdvantageNews.com
Illinois, however, isn’t among those with a high score.
“Illinois scored a 56 out of 100 for financial transparency according to Truth in Accounting's Financial Transparency Score Report, which [places] us in the bottom five among all 50 states,” state Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) wrote on Facebook.
According to Patch, the report cites lack of punctuality as a reason for scoring Illinois the way it did. The website added that transparency scores overall have dipped compared to the previous years.
Challenges with the CARES Act and unemployment insurance caused Illinois to have audit issues, and better scores came with reporting all retirement liabilities on the state's balance sheet, according to AdvantageNews.com. Truth in Accounting CEO Sheila Weinberg said that Illinois promises future pension numbers with better transparency.
“We believe in what we call fact-based accounting,” Weinberg said. “You shouldn’t be able to promise something and get votes for it without having to include it in your budget.”
Andrzejewski described the situation in Illinois as “a mess.”
“For a family of four, your share of the Illinois unfunded pension liability exceeds the median income in the state,” he told AdvantageNews.com. “You will owe more to pensions for public employee promises that were promised but never funded than you make in a year.”
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