Quinn wants to 'fumigate' government
By AMBER KROSEL – akrosel@nwherald.com
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| Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn speaks to reporters outside the Governor's office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Friday. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) (Seth Perlman (STF)) |
SPRINGFIELD – On his first full day on the job, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn took action to eliminate the footprints of corruption left behind by his predecessor.
After Quinn signed his first executive order Friday, the Illinois Reform Commission was formally established under the governor's office. Quinn said the goal of the commission, created earlier this month while he was lieutenant governor, is to develop a plan of attack against Illinois' "integrity crisis."
"Today is a beginning, a start," said Quinn, D-Chicago, during his first news conference outside the governor's office in Springfield. "We're going to start to fumigate state government from top to bottom to make sure it has no corruption."
As the mood surrounding the state Capitol flipped from frantic to eerily calm after Rod Blagojevich was removed from office Thursday, Quinn entered through the news media crowds – something that Blagojevich never would have done – to discuss his plans for the rest of the legislative session.
First on tap is the commission, headed by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins, which is scheduled to produce a report in about three months. Collins successfully prosecuted former Gov. George Ryan.
"Illinois is desperately in need of real, solid reform," said Dave Lundy, board member of the Chicago-based Better Government Association. "And anything the governor can do to elevate the status of a commission working toward that end is a good thing."
However, the areas of state government that need reform are fairly broad, Lundy said. He hopes that campaign finance measures become the commission's top priority.
David Morrison, assistant director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, agreed that changing the campaign finance landscape – from limiting contributions to increasing lobbyist disclosures to exploring public funding – would be a start. But while he likes the idea of the commission, he said, the timing might not be quick enough.
"I'm a little concerned that they have 100 days to come up with something," Morrison said. "I don't know that we really need to study what's wrong with Illinois. It's pretty clear what the problems are, and we don't need people talking about solutions, but acting on solutions."
In addition to signing his executive order, Quinn also said Friday that he plans to investigate a more than $3 billion state budget deficit. The annual budget address, usually in February, has been pushed back to March 18.
Quinn said he hopes that this year's legislative session is productive, including the possible reality of a capital plan to fund state construction.
The governor also said the 2010 primary election should be moved from March to September, to help redirect the lengthy attention on state government elections to lawmakers' work at the Capitol.
