Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is running for Illinois State Comptroller, recently announced that if he were elected he would enact measures to make state government more open and accountable to the media and voters. Given the recent shenanigans in Illinois and its former Governor Rod Blagojevich, the news got a lot of attention.

Krishnamoorthi said he will make full details of state contracts available on the Web. He also vowed to make salaries paid to state workers available, along with rent payments made by the state for facilities it occupies and details of how federal stimulus money is being spent.

"A large part of the problem with state government is it is hidden from the taxpayers who pay for it," Krishnamoorthi said.

Krishnamoorthi said making the information more readily available can even save the state money. In Texas, he said, a similar program saved several million dollars because mistakes and duplications were discovered.  

"Over the long term it does save money, but more importantly, it discourages bad behavior," Krishnamoorthi said of bringing more transparency to state spending.

Krishnamoorthi faces Rep. David Miller in the Democratic primary for state comptroller. Miller recently received the endorsement of the Cook County Democrats.