State leaders call for ethics vote

[September 16, 2008]  SPRINGFIELD -- State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, has joined with a bipartisan group of state officials and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform to urge Senate President Emil Jones to allow the Senate to vote on long-awaited ethics reform legislation.

"Restoring our citizens' trust in government is a goal my Senate Republican colleagues and I have been working toward for several years now," Brady said. "We have pushed legislation that would address the unacceptable 'pay-to-play' atmosphere that has permeated state government for far too long," Brady said. "Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Jones have stonewalled these critical reforms for nearly a year. Then, when this measure finally passes, they continue to throw up as many roadblocks as they can. It is time to allow a vote in the Senate, and it is time to end the 'pay-to-play' shenanigans that have shamed Illinois government for so long."

At a press conference on Monday in Chicago, Brady, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, State Comptroller Dan Hynes, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Illinois Campaign for Political Reform Director Cindi Canary and several lawmakers formally asked Jones to reconvene the Senate and allow a vote on House Bill 824.

Sponsored by Brady, House Bill 824 was approved by lawmakers in the spring. In late August, the governor made substantial changes to the legislation that some observers said were designed to kill the bill. House lawmakers voted to override the changes Sept. 10, and the Illinois Constitution states that the Senate has 15 days to act on the override. However, Jones claims the deadline does not apply until after the bill is officially read into the Senate record, and he has no immediate plans to call the Senate back to consider the measure.

Brady, the 44th District senator, says he hopes the Senate will be also be called back to vote on a measure passed Sept. 10 by the House to restore funding to keep state parks and historic sites open.

The House restored $221 million needed to prevent 11 historic sites from closing on Oct. 1 and 13 state parks from being shut down on Nov. 1. A lack of immediate action by the Senate means the Department of Natural Resources and the Historic Preservation Agency will not receive funding in time to prevent the closures.

"Thousands of citizens across Illinois are taking time from their busy schedules to protest the governor's budget cuts that will close our parks and historic sites," Brady said. "By attending meetings like the Weldon Springs rally in Clinton Sept. 14, or writing the governor, or signing a petition, people are showing just how important these parks and historic sites are to them. It is this kind of strong grass-roots effort that saved funding that the governor tried to cut earlier this year for Extension, 4-H and conservation programs. Our parks and historic sites provide much more than recreational and educational resources. It's easy to argue that the cost of keeping them open is easily offset by the benefit to local businesses and the boost to Illinois' lagging economy."

A petition opposing the closing of the parks and historic sites is available on Brady's legislative site at http://www.brady.senategop.org/.

[Text from file sent on behalf of Sen. Bill Brady by Illinois Senate Republican staff]