President Obama promised that ordinary citizens would be able to easily find out, on line, who would be getting the $787 billion dollars in tax money appropriated to stimulate our economy in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the economic stimulus legislation. Efforts to make that dream come true, however, have become a nightmare, especially in Illinois.
Under the terms of the ARRA, each state has established an internet site citizens can visit to search for information about the stimulus money being spent in their state. A recent study on the effectiveness of these web sites in actually making information available to the general public demonstrates, however, that all 50 of them fall far short of what is possible or even reasonable in terms of making spending information available, and we should not be surprised to learn that among the 50 states, the Illinois website is the worst of all.
The recently released study by an organization known as "Good Jobs First" can be found by following this link:
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/ARRAwebreport.pdf
The study rated each state's web information sites on a scale of 0 to 100. Separate ratings were given to each state respecting the information available for all stimulus programs on the state's main ARRA website, and the state's particular site or page for highway construction projects. Illinois received a rating of zero in both categories, making it far and away the worst state of all in terms of the lack of public information about stimulus spending, though Illinois is getting more money than any other state out of the total $787 billion.
Only four states scored above 50 points on both ratings, and the average overall score is 28.2, with a slightly higher average of 37.8 for the road construction information. Nearly all the sites fell down in terms of showing where within the state the money is being spent, or whether the spending locations coincide with regions of high unemployment or mortgage foreclosure rates. Only 18 states report how many jobs highway projects have created, and only four provide job creation data for other spending initiatives. No one really knows whether or not the economic stimulus legislation is in fact stimulating the economy or creating jobs.
The Good Jobs First report itself misses the mark in one important regard. While complaining that few of the websites even name the general contractors receiving construction projects paid for with stimulus funds, none of the sites discloses which subcontractors and material suppliers are getting the money. This level of reporting would be simple to achieve. In order to get paid on a construction project, every state requires the contractor to submit a sworn statement and lien waivers showing how much of the money the general contractor kept for itself, and how much got paid to every subcontractor and material supplier on the project. Merely by posting .pdf copies of these documents on state websites, citizens interested in the progress and efficiency of any particular project could quickly drill down to a complete list of every business that was paid any money for labor or materials on the project.
Furthermore, neither the bureaucrats nor the contractors on the project would have to write up a single document they are not already required to prepare. As far as I can tell all this information is already required to be public under the freedom of information laws in every state anyway, so no one's toes get stepped on, and no one has to do any extra work. Just run the sworn statements and lien waivers through a scanner every month, and post them on the website. Nobody even has to spend money on stamps. Mission accomplished.
This sort of reporting would be especially valuable in letting people know how much money, altogether, general contractors and trade contractor who work on projects all around the country are getting out of the $787 billion appropriations bonanza. It's easy, yet no state is doing this. And, Illinois is putting out less useful information than anyone else. Surprise, surprise.
Under the terms of the ARRA, each state has established an internet site citizens can visit to search for information about the stimulus money being spent in their state. A recent study on the effectiveness of these web sites in actually making information available to the general public demonstrates, however, that all 50 of them fall far short of what is possible or even reasonable in terms of making spending information available, and we should not be surprised to learn that among the 50 states, the Illinois website is the worst of all.
The recently released study by an organization known as "Good Jobs First" can be found by following this link:
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/ARRAwebreport.pdf
The study rated each state's web information sites on a scale of 0 to 100. Separate ratings were given to each state respecting the information available for all stimulus programs on the state's main ARRA website, and the state's particular site or page for highway construction projects. Illinois received a rating of zero in both categories, making it far and away the worst state of all in terms of the lack of public information about stimulus spending, though Illinois is getting more money than any other state out of the total $787 billion.
Only four states scored above 50 points on both ratings, and the average overall score is 28.2, with a slightly higher average of 37.8 for the road construction information. Nearly all the sites fell down in terms of showing where within the state the money is being spent, or whether the spending locations coincide with regions of high unemployment or mortgage foreclosure rates. Only 18 states report how many jobs highway projects have created, and only four provide job creation data for other spending initiatives. No one really knows whether or not the economic stimulus legislation is in fact stimulating the economy or creating jobs.
The Good Jobs First report itself misses the mark in one important regard. While complaining that few of the websites even name the general contractors receiving construction projects paid for with stimulus funds, none of the sites discloses which subcontractors and material suppliers are getting the money. This level of reporting would be simple to achieve. In order to get paid on a construction project, every state requires the contractor to submit a sworn statement and lien waivers showing how much of the money the general contractor kept for itself, and how much got paid to every subcontractor and material supplier on the project. Merely by posting .pdf copies of these documents on state websites, citizens interested in the progress and efficiency of any particular project could quickly drill down to a complete list of every business that was paid any money for labor or materials on the project.
Furthermore, neither the bureaucrats nor the contractors on the project would have to write up a single document they are not already required to prepare. As far as I can tell all this information is already required to be public under the freedom of information laws in every state anyway, so no one's toes get stepped on, and no one has to do any extra work. Just run the sworn statements and lien waivers through a scanner every month, and post them on the website. Nobody even has to spend money on stamps. Mission accomplished.
This sort of reporting would be especially valuable in letting people know how much money, altogether, general contractors and trade contractor who work on projects all around the country are getting out of the $787 billion appropriations bonanza. It's easy, yet no state is doing this. And, Illinois is putting out less useful information than anyone else. Surprise, surprise.
