SPECIAL STAFF REPORT
Illinois Issues gratefully acknowledges
the assistance of Robert J. Dworak,
associate professor of administration,
Sangamon State University, in analyzing
the impact of the Governmental Ethics
on local officials.
Sweeping reform meets picayune reality
Economic Disclosure Statements
The Governmental Ethics Act requires state and local officials and employees to disclose 'economic interests' which might result in a conflict of interest situation. But, is enough information obtained to accomplish the purposes of the law?
IN TERMS of the number of individuals directly affected, Illinois' governmental ethics program for local officials
is probably the most sweeping effort in
history to alert public officials — and
their opponents and critics — to the
personal financial interests of officials
which could interfere with the discharge
of their official duties.
The Illinois Governmental Ethics Act was adopted in 1967, and at that time it applied only to state officials. In 1972, two years after the ratification of the new Constitution, the legislature, taking its cue from a discretionary section of the new charter, extended requirements for filing Economic Disclosure Statements to local government officials and candidates for local office. The requirements for the law and its constitutional status are described below.
Estimated 75,000 statements filed
Nobody knows how many persons
had filed disclosure statements with
their county clerk by the April 30
deadline last spring, but a survey of
county clerks by Illinois Issues shows
that over 59,000 individuals have filed
statements in 57 counties, including
Cook County where 35,000 statements
were filed. By projecting these figures,
an estimate of 75,000 for the entire state
of 102 counties can be made.
These statements are open to public inspection, but the law directs that "Each person examining a statement must first fill out a form . . . identifying the examiner by name, occupation, address and telephone number, and listing the date of examination and reason for such examination." Each time a statement is examined, the county clerk must send a duplicate of the examination form to the person whose statement was examined. Illinois Issues' survey showed that in the 57 counties responding, almost 13,000 examinations were made during 1975, and an additional 5,000 were made from January 1, 1976, through May 30,1976 (that is, 30 days after the filing deadline).
The clerks were also asked to indicate, as best they could, the reasons given by those examining the forms. Fifty-three of the 57 counties that responded listed "auditing" as a reason for examination; 16 counties cited news stories; 2 cited legal inquiries. Four other reasons, including credit inquiries, were listed by the responding county clerks. The response from Lake County gave a breakdown of specific examination requests: auditing, 541; news stories, 90; legal inquiries, 6; credit inquiries,4; other, 48.
Reporters interested in who doesn't file
But one county clerk says there is
more interest on the part of reporters in
whether individuals have filed than in
what their statements disclose. David L.
Pierce, Kane County clerk, said, "Following the April 30 deadline for filing,
reporters descend upon the county
clerk's office, armed with a list of
persons from their local community
whom they believe should have filed a
statement and wish to know from the
county clerk the answer to only one
question: 'Has so-and-so filed a statement?' Seldom are they concerned with
even examining the statement but
determine for their news stories [only] whether or not the individual has filed.
"A large part of this may be attributable to the fact that the economic interest statement provides little, if any, information regarding an individual's holdings or assets. A simple perusing of the statements as they are filed indicates that approximately 90 per cent of the statements indicate 'None' for every question. Thus, since the statement discloses nothing, the only interesting thing to determine is whether or not the individual has actually filed."
County clerks irked at paper work
Given the fact that there are over
6,000 units of local government and
more than 30,000 local officials in
Illinois, not to mention local employees
and candidates for office — as well as
individuals who do sufficient business
with the government ($20,000 a year) to
be considered employees — the task of
seeing that the required statements are
filled out has become burdensome to
some county clerks. One volunteered his
opinion: "I think it is a waste of the
taxpayers' money. And I know it is a
waste of my time and my staff." Another
wrote: "It creates governmental red tape
that really isn't worth anything except additional work and expense to the
county clerk's office. The questions and
information are not adequate to accomplish the purpose [of the ethics program]." ž
16 / January 1977 / Illinois Issues