Better Government Association

ICPR's Judicial Public Financing Legislation Approved by Senate

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/
May 2

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.,-- The Illinois Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the Judicial Campaign Reform Act (Senate Bill 222), which would create a voluntary public campaign finance system for supreme and appellate court elections in Illinois.

The Senate sent the bill to the House by a vote of 46 to 12.

"The nation's most expensive court election campaigns have been waged in Illinois," said Cynthia Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR). "Those multi-million dollar campaigns are paid for with large contributions from special interests, who sometimes argue cases before the same judges or whose pocketbooks are impacted by court decisions. When campaign contributions lead to apparent conflicts of interest, the public begins to question the independence and fairness of our courts, and that undermines respect for the law."

Under the legislation, candidates could qualify for public funding by raising enough $5 to $25 contributions to demonstrate they are viable candidates and no more than $30,000 total. Personal funds for participating candidates would be capped at $10,000, and there would be a $100 limit on individual contributions.

Candidates for the Illinois Supreme Court could receive $750,000 in public financing, and candidates for the appellate seats could receive $250,000. The amounts would increase for those candidates opposed by higher spending candidates not participating in the voluntary public financing system.

The public finance system would be paid for through money collected by a voluntary income tax check-off, an additional $1 collected from court appearance and filing fees and voluntary donations from the public.

"Illinois court elections have become so expensive and driven by so much special interest money that our elections are in the national spotlight again," Canary said. "The two candidates running for the Illinois Supreme Court in 2004 set a national record by collecting and spending more than $9 million, and a 2006 appellate court contest tallied a jaw-dropping $3.35 million.

"As candidates for the judiciary depend more and more on special interest money, voters become more skeptical of the fairness of judicial decisions," Canary said. "The Judicial Campaign Reform Act can help restore faith in our democracy and return some independence to our judiciary."

SB 222 is part of a package of ethics reforms advocated by Comptroller Dan Hynes and a coalition of reform organizations. In addition to ICPR, the supporters include the Better Government Association, Citizen Action Illinois, the Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois PIRG, the League of Women Voters of Illinois and Protestants for the Common Good.

SB 222 is sponsored by Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago. The chief co-sponsors are Sens. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale; Don Harmon, D-Oak Park; Jacqueline Y. Collins, D-Chicago; and Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest.