9/15/08 - ILLINOIS LEADERS URGE SENATE TO OVERRIDE GOVERNOR'S ETHICS LAW VETO

CHICAGO – Comptroller Dan Hynes led a bi-partisan group of Illinois political leaders today urging Illinois Senate President Emil Jones to quickly bring the Senate back into session to override Governor Rod Blagojevich's veto of landmark ethics legislation.

Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias joined Hynes in calling on Jones asking that an override vote be scheduled as soon as possible. Also standing in support were numerous legislators and representatives from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the League of Women Voters, Illinois PIRG, Better Government Association, Citizen Advocacy Center and Protestants for the Common Good.

"When the Governor issued an amendatory veto of House Bill 824 last month, he did so not to strengthen it, as he cynically claimed, but to kill it," said Hynes. "Last week, the Illinois House voted 110-3 to block the Governor's game playing. Now we are calling on the Senate to do the same. If they don't, a three-year-long bipartisan effort to end the crippling influence of pay-to-play politics in Illinois will be jeopardized."

HB824, sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey, prohibits businesses with more than $50,000 in state contracts from making political donations to constitutional officers who award the contracts and candidates for those offices. The ban also applies to a company's owners, top officials and close family members.

Those present expressed concern with Jones' earlier decision to delay an override vote until after the election. "We believe that waiting until the veto session in November is problematic. The voters of Illinois deserve to know where all their elected officials stand on this very important issue before they head to the ballot box," said Hynes. A three-fifths vote in both houses overrides an amendatory veto and makes the original bill law.

Cynthia Canary, Director of ICPR, challenged the Senate to act immediately. "Through his veto of this reform legislation, the governor has made it clear that he doesn't want to reform campaign finance laws. The House has demonstrated it does want reform. Now, Senators must decide if they want to keep the corruption-prone system or reform it."

Hynes said the Governor's action fooled no one. "He added numerous provisions that should have been introduced and debated during the legislative process, instead of hastily being tacked on to an amendatory veto for political purposes. By calling an override vote, we will demonstrate that we are truly serious about cleaning up state government and honoring our commitment to serve the people of Illinois."

"It doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong—we don't want to perpetuate pay-to-play politics while a court debates the question for the next two years," said Senator Don Harmon, chief Senate sponsor of HB 824. "My colleagues in the Senate are ready and eager to return to Springfield early to deal with this issue finally and conclusively."

"Pay to play is wrong, and we need to end it now,' said Majority Leader Senator Debbie Halvorson. "This bill will do exactly that. The House has already passed it. The Senate must reconvene immediately so we can end the culture of pay to play in Illinois government once and for all."

Senator Kirk Dillard, Senate Republican Whip, added: "As a sponsor of the State's original gift ban law and other ethics reform changes, I strongly believe the time is now to enact these reforms. We have been working on this for more than ten years. I joined Comptroller Hynes three years ago -- in a bipartisan fashion -- to put forth these specific pay-to-play reforms and with just one more vote they will become law."