Campaign finance fix far from complete

Editorial: The State Journal-Register
     
If you believe federal prosecutors, Rod Blagojevich in December 2008 was in a race against time to fatten his campaign coffers.

According to wiretap evidence and testimony at Blagojevich’s trial last year, the governor was pushing for a $100,000 donation from a horse track owner before Jan. 1, 2009, in exchange for Blagojevich’s signature on a bill that would give horse tracks a share of Illinois’ casino revenue. The timing of the donation was critical to Blagojevich, because he would not be able to accept the donation after Jan. 1, when a new ethics law went into effect.

Coming on the heels of the licenses-for-bribes scandal that sent former Gov. George Ryan to prison, Blagojevich’s alleged shakedown was yet another vivid reminder of the potential for wrongdoing under the state’s ethics and campaign laws at the time.