April 25, 2008

In This Issue:

  • Pay to Play Ban Passes Illinois House
  • Utility Cash, Clout Defeats Rate Rollback Measure

Pay to Play Ban Passes Illinois House
The Illinois House today passed a major reform measure, sending it on to the Senate for consideration. HB 1 would restrict campaign giving by state contractors to the state official who oversees their contracts. The bill was drafted with input from ICPR and a broad coalition of reform groups, including the BGA, Citizen Action, Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause, Illinois PIRG, the League of Women Voters and Protestants for the Common Good. For more information, read the press release on our homepage.


Utility Cash, Clout Defeats Rate Rollback Measure
In a move that stunned statehouse observers, the Senate last week used an obscure parliamentary maneuver to strip a Democratic amendment from a Democratic bill, even though a majority of the chamber had voted for the amendment. The amendment would have added Commonwealth Edison to a bill rolling back electric rate increases charged by downstate power provider Ameren. Senate President Emil Jones, who voted against the amendment and approved the maneuver, is the top recipient of Commonwealth Edison's campaign giving in the 20035-2006 election cycle. For ICPR's analysis, visit our blog.

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 2008. All material.