Illinois Policy Institute - $379,745 in Membership Fees

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$379,745 in Membership Fees

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12/17/2009
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

Using our new transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org, I found that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spent $364,835.16 in 2008 and 2009 (by the time of our FOIA requests) on membership fees. The Department of Employment Security spent $14,910.50 on membership fees in the same time frame. The total amount spent by both agencies comes to $379,745.66. The table below breaks down the expenses by department and year. These numbers may be slightly different than those listed on the IllinoisOpenGov site due to rounding.

In 2008, the largest membership fee was $95,500 to the "Council of Great Lakes," with the second largest fee being $57,000 to the Northeast Midwest Institute. The largest and second largest membership fees in 2009 were $60,200 to the Travel Industry Assn of America and $15,000 to the Mississippi River Parkway Commission.

To see the related entries on the IllinoisOpenGov site, go to "Checks to Businesses & People" and scroll down "Category of Spending" to "Annual Membership," "Fee for Membership," and "Membership." To see the data used in the table below, you can download the search results by clicking on the Excel or CSV icon at the bottom of the search.

Department	Amount
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity	$364,835.16
2008	$243,587.50
2009	$121,247.66
Department of Employment Security	$14,910.50
2008	$14,385.50
2009	$525.00
Grand Total	$379,745.66