OUR VIEW:

Quit stalling on ethics reform
Journal Star
Posted Jun 07, 2008 @ 01:44 PM
Last update Jun 09, 2008 @ 02:02 PMLawmakers finally passed a measure that seeks to curb pay-to-play politics in Illinois.
We're of course talking about the sort of you-scratch-my-back, I'll-scratch-yours dealings that landed a former governor in prison, that prompted the FBI to send an extra corruption detail to the Land of Lincoln, and that saw a close associate of the current governor convicted last week on 16 federal counts of corruption.
Unfortunately, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has indicated he won't sign the legislation in question. He says he wants to fiddle with it first.
Officially, the guv suggested that House Bill 824 doesn't go far enough to cleanse Illinois of corruption. "There's a lot more work to do on that issue. In fact there's significant things that I think we can do and hopefully move that process forward," he told reporters. Blagojevich hinted he may use his amendatory veto powers to "improve" the bill.
Suspend disbelief for a moment and take Blagojevich at his word. Agreed: House Bill 824 isn't the end-all, be-all of ethics reform. The legislation would prohibit businesses with more than $50,000 worth of state contracts from giving campaign cash to the state officers responsible for awarding those contracts. If businesses violated the ban, they could see their state contracts nullified. Also, big contractors would have to register with the Board of Elections so that the public could track political donations in a searchable database.
Could the reforms be meatier? Sure. H.B. 824 is actually an offshoot of stronger legislation, House Bill 1, which would have set contract-holders' contribution limits at $25,000 instead of $50,000, among other differences.
Better yet, were more lawmakers truly motivated by a desire for good government, they'd dial up some advice from the good folks at the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a watchdog group that supports everything from a strengthened Elections Board to voluntary public financing for Illinois Supreme Court campaigns.
Blagojevich, a former marathoner, should know that you don't just wake up one day and run 26.2 miles. You build toward that gradually by setting smaller, more manageable goals. H.B. 824 is that first goal - one step on the long road to real ethics reform. At present Illinois is unique among states in that it doesn't set limits on the amounts those seeking contracts can give to those awarding contracts. We have to start somewhere, or we'll never get anywhere.
Alas, the embattled governor, under federal investigation himself as "Public Official A," seems more intent on making the perfect the enemy of the good. How convenient for him.
Indeed, let's stop suspending disbelief and suggest that Blagojevich has no interest whatsoever in curtailing pay-to-play. Why is the governor the only constitutional officer who hasn't voluntarily adopted policies limiting campaign contributions from contractors? Why did his biggest ally in Springfield, Senate President Emil Jones, hold up the superior H.B. 1 for months while promising to push through more "comprehensive" pay-to-play reforms? Had the governor championed that bill, it might be law today. This is a tired tactic.
And this is a governor who ran as the antidote to George Ryan, who said he'd end "business as usual" in Illinois, who pledged to "rock the system" of campaign finance. But with last Wednesday's conviction of his confidante Tony Rezko only the latest in a years-long string of troubling allegations involving the Blagojevich administration, the only thing that's rocked is our confidence.
House Bill 824 passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. No law will make a bad politician good, but this is Illinois' best shot at beginning to scrub away the dirty film that covers state government.
Sign the bill now, governor, or risk reinforcing what many if not most Illinoisans already believe about you: You may have your priorities, but ethics ain't one of 'em.