Editorial Here’s what we think gov should do in his next term

From the Rockford Register Star (Editorial):

Published: November 15, 2006

Editorial
Here’s what we think gov should do in his next term

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has his own agenda for his second term, but there are three items in particular that we’d like him to address soon.

Rockford’s airport. The airport is a $1 billion investment in northern Illinois’ future. It’s paid for. It is building passenger and freight service, most recently with the addition of United Airlines twice-daily flights to Denver, and Allegiant flights to Orlando/Sanford and to Las Vegas. Traffic to all destinations is high, with flights leaving full or nearly full.

On the freight side, UPS has its second-largest hub here, and is busy expanding that hub with a heavy- freight building and adding capacity at its first terminal.

The airport is the most underutilized asset the state has. It sits in the middle of the rapidly expanding northwest corridor from Chicago up the Northwest Tollway. More than 2.5 million people live within an hour’s drive.

The governor is committed to helping the Chicago/Rockford International Airport expand and become more competitive, according to spokeswoman Becky Carroll. The governor wants to help the airport reach its target of 5 million passengers and will commit more state resources to do so.

We hope the governor lives up to that commitment.

Capital projects. We doubt anything happens in the lame-duck legislative session that is under way, but it’s almost assured a capital plan will pass early next year when a new General Assembly is seated.

We hope that plan includes important projects in northern Illinois. We’re especially concerned about money for South Main Street in Rockford.

That project takes on added significance because of the pending deal that would bring an American Hockey League team to Rockford and help pay for $20 million in renovations to the MetroCentre.

South Main is an important gateway to Rockford, yet people who come into the city along that route are probably turned off by the drive.

The AHL hockey team has the potential to attract many more visitors to the city, but this key entrance must be made more inviting.

Rockford also needs schools built. It needs at least two, perhaps three, schools on the growing northeast side. A high school and a junior high are musts. An elementary school is needed.

These issues should be priorities.

Ethics. The Blagojevich administration is under investigation because of its hiring practices and has been accused of taking “pay-to-play” politics to a new level.

The governor pushed ethics reform in his first term, but those reforms did not go far enough.

We prefer changes like those proposed by Comptroller Dan Hynes.

Hynes’ proposal has two thresholds for bidding on state contracts. For contracts between $10,000 and $25,000, prospective bidders would have to disclose any contributions to the officeholder awarding the contract within the previous two years.

For contracts of more than $25,000, contractors would be prohibited from contributing to the officeholder who awarded the contract. The ban would be in effect for two years after the contract is completed or until the end of the officeholder’s term, whichever is longer.

It also would bar former state officials and state employees from becoming lobbyists for one year. It would require electronic filing and public access to online reports; impose fines for violators; and authorize the secretary of state inspector general to investigate violations. Hynes would also make state Supreme Court races publicly funded.

These kinds of reforms are needed to end the culture of corruption in Illinois.

That’s our short wish list for the governor. We could go on about school finance reform, pension obligations and more, but these three items are a good place to start.