Both
Gov. Pat Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan have said that they'd like to
see Illinois politics and government cleaned up before any deficit-closing tax
increases are debated.
It's
doubtful, of course, that the two men are talking about the same sort of
cleanup - with Madigan coming from the old school and Quinn being the
decades-long reformer.
Madigan
mentioned two targets for reform the other day when talking to Public Television:
The pension systems and the state's Purchasing Act. He didn't elaborate much. A
spokesman said ideas are currently being developed, but Madigan does want some
of the state's purchasing reforms from a few years ago applied to the state
pension systems.
Quinn,
meanwhile, has pushed binding public referenda, campaign contribution limits
and a whole host of other ideas that are never very popular in Springfield.
Good government groups and some newspapers have made contribution caps their
top priority, partly because disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign
funding apparatus was so obscene.
So,
where does it go from here?
Senate
President John Cullerton may have pointed the way last week when he told a
downstate newspaper's editorial board that he believes campaign contribution
limits will become the law in this state. Illinois is one of just a handful of
states which places no limits on contributions. Cullerton didn't elaborate
about how high he'd place the cap, but Madigan has said he worries that wealthy
candidates or interest groups could overwhelm opponents with a huge barrage of
uncapped spending.
If
caps are put in place, they will likely wind up being higher than the federal
government's $2,400 per election for individuals and $5,000 per year for
political action committees. A starting point may be Senate Republican Leader
Christine Radogno's proposal to limit contributions to $10,000 per year from
all sources.
Despite
what you may think, gigantic contributions of $100,000 or more are the exception,
not the rule in Illinois. But $25,000 checks are more common. The despicable
Blagojevich apparently set $25K as his ticket price for appointments to some
state boards and commissions.
Cullerton
and Madigan co-chair a special bicameral committee created to come up with
ethics reforms. But that legislative committee has a competitor out there, a
special citizens commission formed by Gov. Quinn and run by respected former
federal prosecutor Patrick Collins.
As
I write this, Collins is preparing to unveil his commission's proposals. It's
widely expected that the Collins commission will propose far more radical ideas
than the Madigan/Cullerton committee, and members will be way more wedded to
their recommendations. One member of the Collins-headed commission told a
Rockford audience at a recent town hall meeting that he would feel "very
disenfranchised" if the commission's recommendations were swept under the
rug.
Gov.
Quinn is proud of his reformer reputation, so implementing real change is one
of his top priorities. But he also wants to pass a multibillion-dollar,
job-creating capital construction plan, and he absolutely must have a balanced
budget by the end of this spring's legislative session. He needs cooperation
from the General Assembly and their leaders to succeed, so he has to be
somewhat careful how he proceeds on his reform agenda.
Collins
and his commission have been operating independently from Quinn. The governor's
office has been given no real idea how far and wide the commission will go. And
if they go too far and push too forcefully, Quinn will be put smack dab in the
middle of any potential clash between the commission and the Madigan/Cullerton
committee. The governor's own commission could put him in a major political
bind.
A
saving grace might be the fact that Collins didn't put any members of the
state's "good government" groups on his commission. While they're
often ignored at the Statehouse, if the groups decide to act as a sort of
referee between the "too tame" and the "not gonna happen,"
they could help shape the final product's outcome.
And
Quinn may have given himself a somewhat graceful way out if he has to pull the
plug on the reform push. The governor said last week that he would initiate a
statewide petition drive to make contribution caps the law of the land if the
legislature fails to act. He probably can't do that under the state's
constitution, but it'll be a fun summer project for the guy.
-30-
Rich
Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.