Great Leaps

Tomorrow is February 29th, that rare occasion when the shortest month of the year gets a little bit longer. Most of the time, Leap Years coincide with presidential elections and the Summer Olympics. They don't come every four years, exactly; centuries are not Leap Years, unless they're also divisible by 400, as 2000 was.

Even more rare than the Leap Year is the Bill With 47 Sponsors But No Hearing. HB 1 has been sitting in the Senate Rules Committee since last April. All but a dozen of the 59 members of the Senate have signed on as sponsors. That's more than enough to pass the bill; more than enough to override a veto; even enough to suspend the rules and move the bill directly to the floor. And yet, the bill sits in Rules, unheard, unvoted upon.

The Daily Herald ran a story talking with "Leapsters" or "Leaplings" about what it's like to have February 29th as their birthday. We feel like the 47 sponsors of HB 1 deserve some sympathy, too, for their unusual circumstance. So tomorrow, why not call them up and say you feel for them. Sometimes, it's lonely trying to do the right thing.

Also, according to some, February 29th doubles as Sadie Hawkins Day. On behalf of HB 1, why not take the initiative and ask the Senate President to dance?

SENATE SUPPORT FOR HOUSE BILL 1 JUST KEEPS GROWING

The newest member of the Illinois Senate has become the newest co-sponsor of House Bill 1, which would limit pay-to-play state contracting opportunities.

Just days after being sworn-in to a vacancy in the Senate, Sen. Heather Steins, D-Chicago, became the 47th member of the 59-member Senate to sign on as a co-sponsor of HB 1.

HB 1 would prohibit business owners with more than $25,000 in state contracts from making campaign contributions to officeholders awarding the contracts.

“If state government contractors are banned from contributing campaign dollars, taxpayers will have some confidence that contracts are being awarded fairly, and business owners will be less likely to be squeezed for campaign contributions in exchange for doing business with state government,” said Cynthia Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

“Too many business executives believe that campaign contributions are the price that must be paid in order to win a state contract,” Canary said. “We need to turn that on its head and make campaign contributions the price of not getting state business.”

Last spring, the Illinois House approved HB 1 by a vote of 116 to 0. In the more than nine months since HB 1 passed the House, Senate President Emil Jones has not allowed HB 1 to be debated.

“Support for this legislation is overwhelming,” Canary said. “Senate President Jones should either permit the bill to come to a vote or tell the 47 sponsors and the public why he fears passage of this important government reform.”

For additional information about HB 1, please visit www.ilcampaign.org.

New Year, New Rules, New Server

A couple of thoughts on the coming of the new year.

First, as many of you know, ICPR has been working hard to pass HB 1, a bill to address pay-to-play in state contracting. The bill has 46 sponsors, a super majority of both caucuses, and yet it's been locked down in Senate Rules since last April. December 31 will mark the 250th day that HB 1 has been held hostage, and so we invite all of you to show you outrage at this farcical abuse of legislative power by donning silly hats, blowing noisemakers, and counting down the seconds to January 1, which will be the 251st day. Maybe that will get the bill moved to committee when the legislature reconvenes on January 2.

Second, beginning on January 1, political committees active in the February 5th Primary Election will have two days to report donations of more than $500. In previous years, these A-1 reports didn't kick in until later in the year. Under the old rules, we'd expect A-1s to start arriving in mid-January; a pre-election report would arrive in late January detailing all receipts since the start of the year, and in-between, the D-2 Semi Annual reports would arrive with details of fundraising in the second half of 2007. With the earlier primary date, that all changes; there will be no Pre-election report for the primary, and the A-1s start as soon as 2008 does. So not only do we have Special Session to look forward to on January 2, but, as the first business day of the year, the first batch of A-1 reports should also arrive.

Finally, we know many of you occasionally have had difficulty finding our website or sending us e-mails. We share your frustration. Our aging server limped through the fall, but neither technological know-how nor duct tape could keep it going. In the new year, we'll be moving the site and the e-mail to a new system, which should, fingers crossed, fix all the problems.