Pay to Play Legislation

On Monday, September 22, the Illinois Senate voted 55-0 to override the Governor's veto of HB 824, a measure to limit pay-to-play in state contracting. The House had earlier voted to override 110-3, meaning that the measure will become law over the Governor's objections. It takes effect on January 1, 2009.

HB 824 took a long and arduous path to becoming law. The bill had 118 sponsors in the House (ie., every member) and 44 sponsors in the Senate (ie, all but 15 of them). It had the support of every statewide constitutional officer but one. It had the support of nearly every newspaper editorial page in the state. And it had the support of every major reform organization in Illinois. But the governor, and his allies, opposed the bill and tried at every step to slow it down, delay its progress, and tie it up with procedural roadblocks.

Victory is sweet. But remember that this bill is only one step on the long road to restoring credibility to Illinois government. There are many more reforms that need attention: campaign finance, lobbyist regulation, judicial elections, statements of economic interest; the list is long.

Click here for a summary of HB 824.

Click here for ICPR's statement upon the enactment of HB 824.

Here is some recent coverage of the pay-to-play bill:

the State Journal Register
the Chicago Sun Times
the Hillsboro Journal News
the Bloomington Pantagraph
the Rockford Register Star
the Belleville News Democrat
the Jacksonville Journal Courier
Galesburg
Bloomington Pantagraph
The Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Sun-Times