House Bill 1
On April 25th, the Illinois House voted overwhelmingly in favor
of important legislation to prohibit many government contractors
from giving campaign contributions to the officeholders who awarded
those contracts.
House Bill 1, which would limit pay-to-play opportunities, was approved
by a vote of 116 to 0.
On April 26th, House Bill 1 was assigned to the Senate Rules Committee
where it remains today.
Even though 47 senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, Senate President Emil Jones has blocked House Bill 1 and refused to allow the full Senate to send HB 1 to the governor's desk.
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PLEASE CALL OR E-MAIL SENATE PRESIDENT JONES AND LET HIM KNOW THAT
YOU FAVOR HOUSE BILL 1 AND ASK HIM TO SUPPORT THIS LEGISLATION LIMITING
PAY-TO-PLAY IN ILLINOIS GOVERNMENT.
You can call President Jones in his State Capitol office at 217-782-2728.
You can send President Jones an email at jones@senatedem.state.il.us
For
far too long, campaign cash has been seen as the price of admission
to win state contracts in Illinois. It is time to let Illinois taxpayers
know that state contracts will be awarded based on the quality of
services and the price offered -- not the political connections
of the bidders.
HB 1 is strong medicine for a tough problem. It will clean up state
procurement by:
- Banning state contractors with state business valued over $25,000
from giving to the officials who oversee their contracts and to
candidates for that office.
- Prohibiting state officers, employees and their spouses from profiting
from state contract and bond deals.
- Requiring bidders to disclose their political contributions.The
coalition of grassroots and reform organizations supporting this
bill include the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Citizen
Action Illinois, the Better Government Association, the Citizen
Advocacy Center, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois PIRG, the League
of Women Voters, and Protestants for the Common Good.
HB 1 also is supported by Lieutenant Governor Patrick Quinn, Attorney
General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, Comptroller
Dan Hynes and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is the only statewide elected official who
has NOT endorsed HB 1.
Senate President Emil Jones is the only one of the four General
Assembly caucus leaders who has not supported HB 1.
In the meantime, some officials have not waited for passage of a state
law limiting pay-to-play opportunities and have issued orders restricting
or banning some contributions to their campaigns.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley also issued an Executive Order with prohibitions
on campaign contributions to the mayor's political fundraising
committee. (HB 1 would be limited to state contracting and campaign
contributions.)
http://egov.cityofchicago.org:80/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/ExecutiveOrderNo051_1.pdf
Newspapers supporting legislation to combat "pay-to-play"
contracts include the Chicago Sun-Times and the entire Sun-Times
News Group, the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago Business,
the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, 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, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and
the Southern Illinoisan.
"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)
"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 Southtown,
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)
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