January 29, 2010

One year ago history was made in Illinois when an Illinois Senate Tribunal voted to make Gov. Rod Blagojevich the first Illinois government in state history to be impeached and removed from office.

Although many hoped the former governor’s removal would make way for positive change in Illinois, unfortunately the state continues to suffer due to the ongoing impact of Blagojevich’s poor choices, coupled with continued lack of leadership and fiscal mismanagement.

In fact, the state’s situation is as bad or worse as it was when Blagojevich left office. Illinois still boasts massive state debt and a budget crisis that has placed state services in jeopardy. Additionally, Gov. Quinn has come under fire for continuing to employee many of the Blagojevich administration’s top employees and for retaining, and in some cases expanding, most of the former governor’s programs, some of which played a role in his removal from office.

However, a year after his removal from office following evidence of his engagement in pervasive and widespread corruption and blatant abuse of his power as governor, Republicans are still advocated for true campaign finance reform.

On Tuesday, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) advanced legislation that Senate Republicans agree is necessary to close significant loopholes in the ethics law that was approved last fall. House Bill 5008 extends the contribution limits established by Senate Bill 1466 (PA 96-0832) to the general election.

While the campaign contribution measure that was passed by lawmakers in October imposed Illinois’ first ever limits on contributions, Republicans said then that the measure didn’t go far enough, as it exempted legislative leaders and political parties from the contribution law during the general election.

Although they expressed support for the contribution limits included in the bill, as well as more stringent transparency and disclosure measures, Republicans said that without capping contributions limits for legislative leaders and political parties during the General Election, the measure will have limited impact.  A majority of contribution money is spent during the general elections—not the primary—thus reducing the overall effectiveness of the legislation.