Quinn on ethics reform
Earlier this afternoon, Gov. Pat Quinn talked to reporters while on his way out of the Capitol. In summary, he said he was confident he'd be able to find money to fund the Monetary Award Program to ensure thousands of college students would still get their financial aid, however, the state will likely seek to borrow another $1 billion for cashflow reasons so it can pay some bills and he's waiting to hear from transit officials on Wednesday before saying much about their financial problems.
Here's the QNA with reporters on ethics.
Q: Campaign finance out there you can sign?
A: I think we’re making progress. It’s got more work to do but I think there’s been steady progress since we got together in the summer. So I’m optimistic there.
Q: Where are we right now?
A: We’re still working on it.
Q: Will you sign anything that doesn’t include caps on legislative leaders and political parties?
A: We’ve got to see what’s in the bill. The bill is what the final product is. We’ve got to analyze it line by line.
Q: What’s your bottom line?
A: “I think my goal is … to put the people back in politics in Illinois and take big money out of it. The last two governors, I think, got in trouble on campaign money issues on how they handled their work. I think it’s important we straighten that out. There’s a lot of good ideas that are out there. I think it’s important to take a look at other states and how they’ve handled this.
Q: What would need to be in there to put the people back in politics?
A: “I’ve always favored limits. I’ve been an advocate of that for 33 years. So I think limits on contributions are really a very important part of any reform. That’d be a landmark for Illinois to have limits on contributors.”
Q: Doe that include parties (legislative leaders)?
A: “We have to look at all the laws as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court as well. You have to comply with the fundamental law of our country. It’s an endeavor you have to work with a lot of different people, groups, individuals, both in and out of the legislature. The bottom line is to have reform.
Seems Mr. Honesty and Decency will not commit to Limits on the Legislative Leaders Contributions, so as always Quinn is all bluster and no action.
So, what we really get is "reform" again in the sense that there are new rules, but not true reform where the spectrum actually is changed and it's a level playing field for all candidates. . .
Per today's editorial, the party leaders have already lined their toy soldiers up, filled with campaign cash from previous elections to put the whammy on leader caps. If Quinn was a true reformer, he'd see through that screen and push for the caps on both individual and leader contributions.