May 14, 2007

In This Issue:
HB 1

Newspapers from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River have written in favor of HB 1, a measure supported by ICPR to ban pay-to-play in state contracts. This morning, the Chicago Tribune published their second editorial on the bill; yesterday the Southern Illinoisian wrote in favor, and in recent weeks, the Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, the Daily Herald, the Alton Telegraph, the Belleville News-Democrat, the Bloomington Pantagraph, the Decatur Herald & Review, the Freeport Journal-Standard, the Peoria Journal-Star, the Rock Island Argus and Moline Dispatch, the Rockford Register Star, the State Journal-Register, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch all editorialized in support. See excerpts of some of these below.

The measure passed the House on a 116-0 vote and has 21 sponsors in the Senate. But final passage relies on Senate President Emil Jones. In order for the bill to advance, Jones must agree to give the bill a full public hearing, a vote to the floor and a full up-or-down vote by the members of the Senate,.

We're writing to you today to ask you to do two things.

One is to call Senate President Emil Jones, urging him to give HB 1 a full vote.

Second is to call your state Senator to ask them to sponsor HB 1 and to press the Senate President to move the bill.

Current Senate sponsors include Sens. Don Harmon, Jacqueline Y. Collins, Martin A. Sandoval, Kwame Raoul, Bill Brady, Gary G. Dahl, Christine Radogno, Kirk W. Dillard, Larry K. Bomke, Matt Murphy, David Luechtefeld, Debbie DeFrancesco Halvorson, Edward D. Maloney, Pamela J. Althoff, Dave Syverson, John J. Cullerton, Deanna Demuzio, Susan Garrett, Terry Link, Jeffrey M. Schoenberg and M. Maggie Crotty

In addition to ICPR, HB 1 is supported by the Better Government Association, Citizen Action Illinois, the Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause of Illinois, the League of Women Voters of Illinois, Protestants for the Common Good, and the Sunshine Project.

What Illinois Newspapers are Saying:

"Let's hope -- for the sake of good government and of Jones' reputation -- the Senate president sides with millions of Illinois citizens who have their own agenda: Clean up state government."

-Chicago Tribune (May 14, 2007)

"It is a carefully crafted bill that bans companies and individuals with at least $25,000 in state contracts from giving to the executive officeholders who oversee the awarding of the contracts. It addresses the seemingly growing abuse that is public corruption, the pay-to-play atmosphere that has permeated parts of Illinois for decades."

-- The Southern Illinoisan, Carbondale (May 13, 2007)

Perception too often is reality, and evidence of quid pro quo is everywhere. It's time something is done. We urge readers to contact Sen. Jones, 327 Capitol Building, Springfield, IL 62706; (217) 782-2728; jones@senatedem.state.il.us and tell him to move HB 1 to the Senate floor.

-Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus (May 9, 2007)

"House Bill 1, which passed the House 116-0, has the potential to greatly clean up both the perception and reality of 'pay-to-play politics' in Illinois."

-- The State Journal-Register, Springfield (May 6, 2007)

"The Senate should move quickly to adopt the House bill."

--The Chicago Sun-Times News Group, including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Southown, the Aurora Beacon News, the Elgin Courier-News, the Joliet Herald News, the Naperville Sun, the Star newspapers, and the Lake County News-Sun. (May 2, 2007)

"In an ideal world, you wouldn't need a law to convince politicians to keep government business and campaign contributions separate. Unfortunately in Illinois it's a necessity."

-- The Belleville News-Democrat (April 29, 2007)

"This page dislikes limits on free speech. But enough corruption is enough. Private-sector workers often accept as a condition of employment limits on what they may say. The limits in House Bill 1 would fall on firms as a condition of doing business with the state. Fair enough."

-- The Chicago Tribune (January 3, 2007)

Please consider making a donation to ICPR. We need your contributions and your help to clean up Illinois politics. Visit our online donations page.

ICPR Spotcheck is a publication of The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a non-partisan public interest group that educates, conducts research, and advocates reforms to promote public participation in government, address the role of money in politics, and encourage integrity, accountability, and transparency in government.

You have received this email because you are a subscriber to ICPR Spotcheck, the e-mail newsletter of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. It contains news and information on the activities of ICPR. If your email software does not support HTML, please read Spotcheck online at: http://ilcampaign.org/press/spotcheck.asp. To add or remove a name from this list, please e-mail nelly@ilcampaign.org.