New Report on State Lobbyist Regulations

March 3, 2006

In This Issue:

  • Welcome Home, Legislators
  • New Report on State Lobbyist Regulations
  • Voting and Mapping: ICPR Looks at Redistricting

Welcome Home, Legislators
The Illinois House is taking next week off, so Representative will be in their District Offices.  What better time to let them know that campaign and ethics reforms are needed.  Several bills now pending deserve attention, let them know which measures matter the most to you:
    HB 5006/HB 743 (Coulson - Contribution limits)
    SB 1955/HB 671 (Raoul/Delgado; Judicial Public Financing)
    HB 4073/SB 2138 (Fritchey/DelValle; Pay to Play)
    HB 5765 (Fritchey - Lobbyist reform)
    SB 2953 (Garrett/Dillard; Inspector General Disclosure)

New Report on State Lobbyist Regulations
Our friends at the Center for Public Integrity have taken another look at state lobbyist regulations.  The last time they looked, Illinois ranked 45th in the nation.  While the 2003 Ethics Act barred lobbyists from serving on boards and commissions, will that be enough to raise our ranking?  Illinois has a long way to go before the public should be satisfied with state curbs on private influence peddlers.  Read their report.

Voting and Mapping: ICPR Looks at Redistricting
Primary Elections tend to draw much smaller turnout than Generals, but in most parts of the state and for most offices, the Primary is where the next office holder is chosen, especially for offices with partisan boundaries.  ICPR's newest Issue Briefing looks at how legislative maps are drawn and how that affects elections and legislators.