Quinn To Legislature: Ethics Reform Before Summer Break

CHICAGO (AP) -- With less than a month left in the legislative session, Gov. Pat Quinn is still talking only in broad outlines about the ethics reforms he wants, refusing to say which ones he considers most important or how he plans to get them passed.

Quinn said his Illinois Reform Commission has issued a "blue print" to fix what's wrong in the state, but he would not say Tuesday which of the reforms in the commission's 88-page report were the most important to pass.

"I don't want to pick one area over another," Quinn said after addressing a Rotary luncheon at a downtown private club.

Quinn appointed the commission to come up with a way to clean up state government in the wake of the scandal surrounding Rod Blagojevich, removed from office by lawmakers in January after his arrest on federal corruption charges.

The reform commission has recommended everything from capping campaign donations and strengthening public records laws to term limits for legislative leaders.

But those are just well-intentioned ideas until they're put into bills that lawmakers can vote on, said Rikeesha Phelon, a spokeswoman for state Senate President John Cullerton.

"The governor has been very specific with President Cullerton regarding his priorities and the importance of getting real ethics reforms passed before May 31, but as of yesterday the Senate was still waiting for the commission to actually get these reform ideas into legislative form," she said.

The measures also need legislative sponsors. Quinn said it will not be a problem to find people to step up.

Commission chairman Patrick Collins, a former federal prosecutor who helped send former Gov. George Ryan to prison, did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.

Collins and Cullerton were scheduled to meet later this week to talk about the legislative process, Phelon said.

Quinn said previously that he wanted lawmakers to vote on all the proposals that came out of the reform commission. On Tuesday, he said voting on categories of reforms would be fine too.

"I think it's sufficient as long as we get a specific, concrete vote on things that count and ideally get it passed," Quinn said.

The governor said he had no serious disagreements with the commission's recommendations but there may be some "quibbles" about how best to accomplish some things. He did not elaborate.

Lawmakers have chafed at the suggestion that they should quickly pass the reform commission's recommendations into law. Quinn tried to address that Tuesday.

"I understand that we are in a democracy and I don't believe that any entity appointed by the governor should replace the Legislature. ... They take on oath of office, they are elected by the people of their districts, they have the ultimate word or voice on any kind of legislation. We should honor that," Quinn said.

While Quinn keeps close his legislative strategy, he is working to keep up the drumbeat of reform.

He told Tuesday's luncheon crowd that his priorities include getting a recall measure passed and moving the state to public financing for campaigns. He also wants citizens to be able to use binding referendums to enact reform measures when lawmakers do not.

Quinn is optimistic that lawmakers will pass some ethics reform measures before the session concludes at the end of the month.

"I think members of the Legislature, as we go through these next 26 days, will see that I mean business when it comes to reform, when it comes to balancing the budget, when it comes to jobs and we are not gonna let folks meander. We have to really focus on things that count now and in the future," he said.

-ASSOCIATED PRESS