FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Jay Stewart, Executive Director (312) 427-8330

Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes is urging citizens across Illinois to make their voices heard and call for passage of ethics reforms.

“Twelve ordinary citizens sent a powerful message that corruption in government is wrong and will not be tolerated,” Hynes said of the guilty verdict in the federal trial of former Governor George Ryan. “Now, I’m calling on citizens across Illinois to send that same message to government leaders in Springfield. Tell them it is essential that the General Assembly pass this critically important ethics reform.”

“Those 12 jurors did their duty. They gave up more than six months of their lives. Now, the rest of us can take five minutes to call our legislators,” Hynes said. “If you want government to reform itself, you at least have to make a phone call or write a letter. If you want reform, you’re going to have to make it happen. You’re going to have to demand reform, because apparently they just aren’t getting the message in Springfield.”

Hynes is stopping in several communities to ask area residents to let their legislators know they support the Government Integrity Initiative (HB4073, HB5765, SB2138, SB1955), ethics proposals that would help bring an end to the appearance of pay-to-play practices in Illinois and restore integrity and public confidence in government. Hynes is visiting Rockford, Rock Island, Peoria, Bloomington, Urbana, Marion and Edwardsville.

Hynes’ Government Integrity Initiative bans campaign contributions from companies awarded state contracts, toughens lobbyist disclosure requirements, and creates a system of voluntary public campaign financing for state Supreme Court races as a first step toward establishing a sustainable public funding system for statewide offices in Illinois.

Restoring the public’s faith in their government is not a partisan issue, but rather one that everyone who serves in all levels of government should be concerned about, Hynes said. He noted that the Legislature still has time to approve the proposals this spring.

“Working in government is about serving the public, not about enriching yourself and your friends. Illinoisans deserve a government they can be proud of, not one they are ashamed of,” said Hynes, who last year put strict ethics reforms in place for the Comptroller’s Office, the first statewide officeholder to do so. “Raise your voices. Remind them they represent you. Remind them that government is supposed to serve all of us and should not be used to enrich campaign contributors.”

Hynes, a leader in ethics reform, and a bipartisan group of legislators and good government groups pushed the initiative this spring, but there is a danger the Legislature will leave Springfield without even voting on the package.

“Recently enacted ethics reforms are good, but they clearly don’t go far enough,” Hynes said. “What we need to do as leaders is to fix a broken system.”

The three components of Hynes’ Government Integrity Initiative include the following:

• The “pay to play” component bans anyone with more than $25,000 in state contracts from making campaign contributions to the officeholder awarding the contracts. In addition, prospective bidders on contracts exceeding $10,000 would be required to disclose all contributions to the officeholder awarding the contract. The Comptroller’s Office would not pay any contractors that do not make the proper disclosures.
  
• The measure closes the revolving door for legislators and lobbyists by imposing a cooling off period before former state officials and state employees are allowed to become paid lobbyists. It also imposes tough lobbyist disclosure standards by requiring electronic filing and public access to on-line reports, imposes stiff fines for violators and empowers the Secretary of State Inspector General to initiate investigations of violations.
  
• The initiative removes the corrupting influence of campaign contributions from state Supreme Court judicial campaigns by approving public funding for those races. It provides a baseline of $750,000 in public funds to qualifying candidates, limits contributions to candidates who choose not to take public financing to $1,000 and triggers matching funds for publicly financed candidates when third parties or non-participating candidates spend a certain percentage over $750,000. Further, it requires strict reporting for any group that makes or spends more than $3,000 in a year, is funded by a tax check off and a $1 court appearance fee and becomes operational when the fund reaches $5 million.

A coalition of groups has endorsed the initiative including the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the Better Government Association, Common Cause Illinois, Citizen Action, Protestants for the Common Good, the League of Women Voters, Illinois PIRG and the Citizens Advocacy Center.

"Daily scandal headlines and the conviction of a former Governor apparently are not enough to convince the General Assembly to enact the reforms contained in Comptroller Hynes' Government Integrity Initiative,” said Cindi Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “Our government leaders need to hear directly from the people who elect them to office, and it is important that Illinoisans let them know they support the Government Integrity Initiative."

“The Ryan prosecution and conviction send a clear message to citizens and voters that something is deeply wrong in Illinois government and politics,” echoed Jay Stewart, Executive Director of the Better Government Association. “Unfortunately, too many state leaders are complacent about the current state of affairs and don’t want to change the system. They need to hear from voters that inaction in the face of the Ryan verdict is tantamount to approving of pay-to-play government, which is simply not tolerable.”

The Government Integrity Initiative proposals and their sponsors are as follows: HB4073 is sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey, Rep. Bill Black, Rep. Jack Franks, Rep. Elizabeth Coulson and Rep. Kurt Granberg. SB2138 is sponsored by Sen. Miguel del Valle of Chicago, Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg and Sen. Edward Maloney. SB1955 is sponsored by Sen. Kwame Raoul, Sen. Kirk Dillard, Sen. Don Harmon and Sen. Jacqueline Collins, while Rep. William Delgado is the main House sponsor. HB5765 is sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey, Rep. Kevin Joyce, Rep. William Delgado, Rep. David Miller, Rep. Elizabeth Coulson and Rep. Sara Feigenholtz.

Citizens can call 217/782-2000 to obtain the telephone number of their legislators. Citizens also can find the telephone numbers and addresses of their legislators at: http:/www.ilga.gov/. If you are unfamiliar with the names of your legislators you can locate them by going to the Illinois State Board of Elections web site and entering your 9-digit zip code or your address: http://www.ilga.gov/. If you are unfamiliar with the names of your legislators you can locate them by going to the Illinois State Board of Elections web site and entering your 9-digit zip code or your address.