Republican lawmakers unveil transparency measures

House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Rep. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove proposed three transparency initiatives Wednesday. One of the proposals would allow residents to see an itemized breakdown of how their tax dollars are spent.

That requirement would apply to areas of local government such as school districts, municipalities and park districts.

At the state level, one of the initiatives would expand an existing transparency website that shows several state expenditures.

Sandack says it should include all taxing bodies as well as pension and retiree health care liabilities.

Cross calls it one-stop shopping for transparency.

He says much of this information is already available but is not easily accessible to taxpayers.