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Non-profit

American Transparency

Website:

www.openthebooks.com
Location:

Burr Ridge, IL
Tax ID:

26-3593601
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $2,821,314
Expenses: $2,365,481
Assets: $1,186,061
Formation:

2009
Type:

Government Spending Watchdog
COO:

Craig Mijares

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American Transparency is a watchdog group that publishes OpenTheBooks.com, a database that tracks government spending at federal, state, and local levels. OpenTheBooks seeks to capture data on all monies taxed and spent by the government. 1

Activities

OpenTheBooks aims to collect and catalog every government expense in real time and provides this data online at no cost to users. OpenTheBooks uses this data to support reporting and oversight on government spending. OpenTheBooks claims that taxpayers have a constitutional right to government oversight and that voting can be influenced by citizens’ awareness of government spending. 2

In 2022, OpenTheBooks published oversight reports analyzing the details of $201 billion in transactions of the Export-Import Bank since 2007, detailing Congressional travel paid for by third parties, analyzing White House staff expenses through the last three administrations, and mapping waste, fraud, corruption, and taxpayer abuse in federal agencies. 3

In 2021, OpenTheBooks started a petition campaign to “read the bill” in order to revive the national effort requiring all legislation to be publicly posted online for a minimum of 72 hours before being put before Congress. OpenTheBooks claims that the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution calls for transparency and that a modern interpretation would call for proposed legislation to be readily available online for taxpayers, the media, and members of Congress for review before voting. 4

In July 2023, OpenThe Books released an oversight report titled, “Environmental Protection Agency: Quantifying Agency Operations During Fiscal Years 2018-2022,” (archived here), which claimed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had received over $100 billion in federal funds for new grants between 2018 and 2022 including $100 million from the 2021 American Rescue Plan, $60 billion from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and another $40 billion from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 5 The report also described an increase in spending grants titled “environmental justice” at the EPA during the Biden Administration, from $5.6 million during the 2021 fiscal year to over $14 million spent during the 2022 fiscal year. 6 In addition, between 2018 and 2022, the report states that EPA made over 29,000 grantee transactions totaling $26,459,600,452, or roughly $5.3 billion per year (or half the EPA’s budget), with 89% (or $23.7 billion) being granted to state and local governments. The states that received the largest grants during that period of time included California ($2.2 billion) and New York ($1.5 billion). 7

Funding

American Transparency is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While American Transparency does not disclose other donors, tax filings confirm donations from Donors Trust ($651,000 in 2019), 8 Thomas W. Smith Foundation ($330,00 in 2020), 9 and the Foundation to Restore Accountability ($250,526 in 2020). 10

People

Staff

Adam Andrzejewski is the founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks.com and the founder and former president of For the Good of Illinois. Andrzejewski was a Republican candidate for Governor of Illinois in 2010. 11

Board of Directors

Thomas W. Smith is the chair of the board of American Transparency and the chair and president of the Thomas W. Smith Foundation. 12

Jameson G. Campaigne is the treasurer of the board of American Transparency. Campaigne is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and the advisory council at Turning Point USA. Campaigne sits on the board of the National Humanities Institute and formerly sat on the boards of the American Conservative Union and Americans for Effective Law Enforcement. Campaigne is also a founding member and formerly sat on the boards of the National Tax Limitation Committee, the Media Institute, and the Philadelphia Society. 13

Bruno Behrend is a senior fellow for education policy at the Heartland Institute. 14 Behrend is the former executive director of For the Good of Illinois and the former policy director of Adam Andrzejewski’s gubernatorial campaign. 15

Chuck Chokel is the former co-CEO of the Progressive Corporation. Chokel sits on the board of Truth in Accounting. 16

References

  1. “Our Story.” American Transparency. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.openthebooks.com/about-us/.
  2. “Our Story.” American Transparency. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.openthebooks.com/about-us/.
  3. “Reports.” American Transparency. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.openthebooks.com/news/reports/.
  4. Andrzejewski, Adam. “Why Is It Controversial To Ask Congress To Read The Bill?” American Transparency, January 28, 2021. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.openthebooks.com/assets/1/6/Read_The_Bill.pdf?72587.
  5. “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | OpenTheBooks Oversight Report.” OpenTheBooks, July 26, 2023. https://www.openthebooks.com/us-environmental-protection-agency–openthebooks-oversight-report/
  6. “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | OpenTheBooks Oversight Report.” OpenTheBooks, July 26, 2023. https://www.openthebooks.com/us-environmental-protection-agency–openthebooks-oversight-report/
  7. “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | OpenTheBooks Oversight Report.” OpenTheBooks, July 26, 2023. https://www.openthebooks.com/us-environmental-protection-agency–openthebooks-oversight-report/
  8. Donors Trust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II.
  9. Thomas W. Smith Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2020, Part XV, Line 3.
  10. Foundation to Restore Accountability, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2020, Schedule I, Part II.
  11. “Adam Andrzejewski.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 25, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamnorrisandrzejewski/.
  12. Thomas W. Smith Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2020, Part VIII, Line 1.
  13. “Jameson Campaigne.” Turning Point USA. Accessed November 25, 2022. https://www.tpusa.com/jamesoncampaigne
  14. “Bruno Behrend.” Heartland Institute. Accessed November 25, 2022. https://www.heartland.org/about-us/who-we-are/bruno-behrend.
  15. “Bruno Behrend.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 25, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunobehrend/.
  16. “Board of Directors.” Truth in Accounting. Accessed November 25, 2022. https://www.truthinaccounting.org/about/page/board-of-directors-2.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 2009

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $2,821,314 $2,365,481 $1,186,061 $296,662 N $2,821,314 $0 $0 $362,001 PDF
    2019 Dec Form 990 $2,480,807 $2,380,025 $463,367 $29,801 N $2,480,807 $0 $0 $303,992 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $2,448,484 $2,396,284 $337,730 $0 N $2,448,484 $0 $0 $296,700 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $2,022,301 $1,849,220 $285,530 $0 N $2,022,301 $0 $0 $261,833 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,531,551 $1,732,297 $112,449 $0 N $1,531,445 $0 $106 $245,167
    2015 Dec Form 990 $1,156,021 $1,124,513 $313,195 $0 N $1,156,021 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $785,987 $546,417 $281,687 $0 N $735,987 $50,000 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990EZ $85,383 $100,817 $42,118 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990EZ $71,000 $13,448 $57,552 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    American Transparency


    Burr Ridge, IL