More Reform Needed in Illinois

The last five months in Springfield have been exciting and difficult. My colleagues and I began this year with a goal to restore the citizens' faith in government and our first action was to impeach former Gov. Blagojevich. We hoped that government reform would follow after a change in administrations. We have passed laws to increase government transparency and ensure that state contracts are awarded honestly and in the best interest of the taxpayers.

Illinois' notoriously weak Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been strengthened to shine a bright light on all government activities. Stronger FOIA laws will lead to greater government accountability, and those in charge will no longer be able to hide behind confidentiality or their titles. New state procurement protocols are in place to ensure that future state contracts are awarded honestly, responsibly and not to large campaign contributors of the governor.

We also passed legislation that will reform state boards and commissions by making the process of appointing members both stricter and more transparent. Under our most recent former governors, boards and commissions were a bastion of abuse and corruption. This legislation creates a public Web site that will contain each appointee's qualifications, duties and Statements of Economic Interest, as well as meeting minutes and audio/video recordings.

I cannot say I am satisfied with the progress we have made in Illinois because we need to do so much more. I chaired the committee for a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) in 2008. A Con-Con would allow all reforms to come to the floor for discussion, not just those the leaders could stomach. A Con-Con would have allowed Illinois to re-evaluate its redistricting rules, which currently favor incumbents by allowing them to choose their constituents, rather than the people choosing their legislator. Importantly, it also would have allowed us to implement term limitations for General Assembly leadership. It is becoming clear that an extended leadership leads to a stagnant government. Changes need to be made not only in the executive branch, but also in the legislative branch of state government.

We have taken some steps toward reform, but we've failed in many ways. I voted for campaign contribution limits. Those limits, though high, are better than no limits at all. I believe Illinois needed a starting point to rein in the huge influx of cash sent by donors. I filed legislation twice this year to bring a recall provision to Illinois. The current legislation has passed the House and is on third reading in the Senate.

I will continue to push for reform and hope to change the culture of corruption that has permeated every level of state government.

Comments

[TestAndVerify]

I'd say that this so far looks like what has gone one is a good thing. With that in mind, I would consider looking into what has worked for other states or even other countries and what has been a failure. One proposal to consider might be Election Day Voting (EDV) or at least Same Day Voting (SDV). Both programs have been shown to greatly increase voter turnout, with very little to no actual voter fraud. It also leads to better representation of various districts from the additional turnout. If the current voter registration system leads to an voters who are on the far end of either side of the political spectrum, EDV or SDV may increase the turnout of moderates and an increase in moderate members. Ideally these officials would be more able and willing to work together. Also consider not putting term limits for time in office on the legislators themselves. Otherwise, like in California, you could end up with the situation where the retiring legislator hand off their staff to the new legislator and now you've got an inexperienced legislator, easily manipulated by their staff, and the purpose of term limits have been defeated.