Truth in Accounting
From Sunshine Review
| Truth in Accounting | |
| 501(c)(3) | |
 | |
| Leadership: | Sheila Weinberg |
| Political party | Nonpartisan |
| Website | Truth in Accounting official site |
| Transparency Focus | |
| Fiscal accountability Accounting practices in the budget | |
Truth in Accounting (IFTA) is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan foundation located in Illinois that was founded by Sheila Weinberg, a former Certified Public Accountant, in 2002. The organization consists of financial and public policy experts concerned with the quality of public and private organizations’ financial reporting. IFTA encourages private and public entities to produce financial reports that are comprehensive, comprehensible and transparent and to inform the public of the importance of truthful accounting.
Contents |
Transparency Projects
The organization exposed the discrepancies in the Federal deficient showing that the government owed $2.5 trillion in federal liabilities dwarfs the $162 billion the government officially announced as last year's deficit, down from $248 billion a year earlier.[1]
Statewide Fiscal Transparency Pledge
The group has also been involved in asking the Illinois Legislature to sign off on a transparency pledge which asks the legislature to enact the following:[2]
- Have the Comptroller of the State of Illinois to audit, prepare and release to the public the CAFR within 6 months after the close of each fiscal year
- Have the State Comptroller issue the estimated deficit that will appear on the CAFR if that budget was implemented at least three days before the final vote on the budget in each Chamber
- Issue a press release to announce the estimated government-wide deficit before voting on the budget proposal
- Advocate "3 days of Sunshine" provision be followed to thus ensure true transparency in the budgetary process.
Those that have signed the pledge
Truth and Accounting has collected the following signatures for the Transparency Pledge:[3]
| State House Candidates | State Senate Candidates | Current Office Holders |
|---|---|---|
| Richard A. Caner, 12th District (R) | Sen. Mattie Hunter, 3rd District (D) | Sen. Bill Brady, 44th District (R) |
| Mark Dobrzycki, 20th District (D) | Sen. Maggie Crotty, 19th District (D) | - |
| Frank Coladipietro, 45th District (R) | Sen. Dave Syverson, 34th District (R) | - |
| Rep. Timothy L. Schmitz, 49th District (R) | Sen. Dale Risinger, 37th District (R) | - |
| Rep. Suzanne Bassi, 54th District (R) | Robert P. Sheehan, 37th District (D) | - |
| William M. Griffin, 58th District (R) | Joseph M. Maun, 40th District (R) | - |
| Rep. Michael W. Tryon, 64th District (R) | Jeff Richey, 49th District (R) | - |
| Rep. Robert Pritchard, 70th District (R) | Judith A. Myers, 52nd District (R) | - |
| Jason Briscoe, 75th District (R) | Sen. John Jones, 54th District (R) | - |
| Bob Mitchell, 83rd District (R) | - | - |
| Karen Karlstad Gonzales, 85th District (D) | - | - |
| Daryl Dagit, 91st District (R) | - | - |
| Jil Tracy, 93rd District (R) | - | - |
| Gail Russell, 94th District (D) | - | - |
| Dick Cain, 101st District (R) | - | - |
| Mike Phillips, 106th District (D) | - | - |
| Carol Kugler, 112th District (R) | - | - |
| Dennis Bielke, 114th District (R) | - | - |
| Rhonda E. Belford, 118th District (R) | - | - |
History
For over a decade, Weinberg has analyzed the Federal government's financial statements and projections. During the late '90's, she was astonished to find that the government was recording trust fund surpluses as both revenues and debt. During the 2000 Presidential campaign, for example, candidates focused on how they would spend the projected surpluses. At the same time the Congressional Budget Office had projected a large general fund deficit. Surpluses resulted from including trust fund borrowings as income. The annual costs of government public retirement programs were completely omitted from the projections.
External links
References
- ↑ USA Today, Taxpayers' bill leaps by trillions, May 19, 2008
- ↑ Truth in Accounting Transparency Pledge
- ↑ Transparency Pledge Signatures
