Illinois now has laws that represent
real campaign finance reform.

Last winter, our impeached former governor’s unethical behavior motivated the public to demand reform action. Groups such as Change Illinois and a Quinn-appointed Reform Commission were formed to guide and prod legislators to craft bills with true controls over campaign financing. The New Trier Dems’ Reform Committee gathered over 2000 petition signatures and presented them to the Governor and the leaders of the Illinois House and Senate along with the Committee's own reform recommendations. We urged our legislators to create law that addressed these five areas:

• contribution limits following the federal guidelines
• in-kind donations counted toward contribution limits
• contribution limits tied to the election cycle rather than the calendar
• a limit of one fundraising committee for a candidate or incumbent
• a strengthened oversight agency with sufficient authority and resources to enforce the law, conduct random audits and investigte and impose penalties for violations

After several earlier attempts to construct meaningful reform legislation, plus one veto by Governor Quinn, the new, law SB 1466, has been passed and has been judge as substantive reform by the state's leading reform organizations. You can read the New Trier Dems' Reform Committee view of the new law in this website's At Issue Archive (November 2009).