Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka says she's fulfilling a campaign promise with the launch of her new financial web portal, "The Ledger."
Topinka talked about the new web portal Monday during a stop in Carbondale. The site allows taxpayers and watchdogs to see employee salary information, contract data and other financial details that come through Topinka's office. She says while the information is public record and has always been available, this site makes it much easier to get to: "The public, by and large, doesn't know where to go. The state government is like a morass, where do you start? I think, beyond that, there's a number of government agencies and offices that have made good strides in making information available to the public, but even you may not know what they're all up to because it's just so big."
Topinka says since the site's launch a few weeks ago, her office is already seeing a lot of people checking out the information that's available. She says it's a good first step, and her office will continue adding to it in the future.
You can find The Ledger at ledger.illinois.comptroller.com.
