January 12, 2005

In This Issue:


* Blog Lives
* ICPR Public Appearences
* 94th General Assembly Begins

Blog Lives
The Race is On, ICPRís blog on political news and observations, took a rest after the November election, but we expect it to become more lively in the coming weeks. Between the new legislative session and the filing of campaign finance reports (not to mention the Blago/Mell dust up), check back to the blog for opinions, queries, and insights into the strange world of Illinois politics. Get to the blog via our homepage, or click here.

ICPR Public Appearences
ICPR staff have a few public appearances in the coming days. This Sunday, January 16, ICPR Director Cindi Canary will be a panelist at the ìGet Your Voice Backî forum sponsored by Media Democracy Chicago, In These Times magazine, and WLUW-FM. The Forum is open to the public and will be held at Conway Center at Columbia College in Chicago from 3pm to 6 pm. Canary was also interviewed for a story to run on the NPR program Marketplace, which is slated to run on Monday th 17th. On Tuesday the 18th, Assistant Director David Morrison will analyze the 2004 elections at Oakton Community College. The presentation, part of the Passages Seminars, requires registration but is open to the public for a small fee. For more information on the media forum, click here ; for the Passages Seminar, click here.

94th General Assembly Begins
Legislators elected last November were sworn into office for a legislative term that will run against the backdrop of the George Ryan corruption trial and the run-up to the 2006 statewide elections. While the 2003 Ethics Act was a major step forward on that front, the legislature has so far failed to address much needed campaign finance reforms, as well as needed improvements to lobbyist registration, economic interest disclosure, and voter education. Look for a push to overhaul the way Supreme Court candidates run for office, driven by the reaction to last fallís national-record-shattering debacle in far southern Illinois.

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.

© Copyright 2005. All material.