A CONVERSATION WITH OUR READERS

Campaign finance reform
stays on Illinois' radar screen

by Ed Wojcicki

Gov. Jim Edgar in his State of the State address proposed several modest reforms in Illinois' campaign finance laws. He believes more disclosure from candidates is essential, but he does not support imposing contribution limits on individuals or interest groups. Such limits have not worked at the federal level, he says.

Meanwhile, several legislators, Common Cause and Citizen Action have publicized their own campaign finance reform initiatives already in this session. And the Illinois Campaign Finance Task Force, which was assembled by Illinois Issues and the Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield, released its own 19 recommendations for change late in January (see page 36).

Our Illinois Campaign Finance Project, which included a series of eight town hall meetings and other forums that attracted more than 500 persons from around the state, has produced numerous reports with solid background information and analysis for anyone seriously interested in reform.

"We're glad to see the [task force] set such high standards in the hope that it will make the most basic reforms possible," the Chicago Sun-Times wrote in an editorial. And Cram's Chicago Business responded to the report with an offer that it described as highly unusual for a newspaper. "But unusual times call for unusual actions," the paper declared, promising to publish "a highly flattering, 1,000-word profile — on Page 1, no less — of the two state legislators, one Republican and one Democrat, who sponsor and lead the passage of meaningful campaign finance reform by July 1."

Illinois has fewer restrictions on the flow of money in campaigns than any other state. That is why nearly everyone calling for reform is saying that any tightening of Illinois' campaign finance laws will be a step in the right direction.

Richard Durbin became Illinois' new U.S. senator this year, and is featured in our cover story this month. We asked you in a recent Question of the Month to offer him some advice. Here's a sampling of what you said:

• Work for a balanced budget amendment and welfare reform.

• Address environmental issues.

• Distance yourself from the state's senior senator, Carol Moseley-Braun.

• Earn a reputation like Paul Simon's and Everett Dirksen's, but bring home the bacon as Alan Dixon did.

• Focus on the housing needs of the poor; pay attention to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

• Give the interests of ordinary citizens, not corporations or your campaign contributors, top priority.

• Keep smiling.

Illinois Issues March 1997 / 3