State Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) announced yesterday he will serve as chief sponsor of legislation that seeks to increase financial disclosure requirements for a raft of public officials and candidates across Illinois, and push for the bill's passage during the General Assembly's November veto session. Here's Kotowski and Illinois PIRG executive director Brian Imus talking about the proposal yesterday in Springfield:

Senate Bill 2216 seeks to make the state economic disclosure statement (PDF) more thorough and specific. It would amend the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act by requiring public officials to detail their income sources, much of their property interests, various liabilities, positions they hold in business enterprises and non-profits, future employment plans, honoria worth more than $200 and gifts worth more than $500. Those filing would also be charged with disclosing the interests of "immediate family members," including spouses, siblings, and children with whom they share a household.

The legislation includes new language about appointees to state boards and commissions as well. Appointees would be required to disclose contributions worth $150 or more to political committees and donations to political defense funds, as well as name any immediate family members who are registered as a state or federal lobbyist, in addition to filing their economic interest statement. All of this information is to be filed electronically and made available for search via a database on the Secretary of State's website. While the bill does not mention candidate tax returns -- an issue in the current gubernatorial campaign, with GOP Lieutenant Gov. candidate Jason Plummer refusing to release his and Bill Brady limiting access to his returns -- SB 2216's stipulations would clearly bump up the volume of information about public officials' financial interests in Illinois.