Is Quinn mixing bill signings with campaigning?

[July 23, 2010]  SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Pat Quinn has been busy during the month of July, signing into law a slate of bills ranging from public safety to the state's newest budget package.

But rather than sitting at the governor's desk at the Capitol in Springfield, Quinn has been busy traveling the state, shaking hands and publicly announcing the new laws.

The constant stream of appearances comes just a few months before voters decide on their next governor of Illinois. Polls show that it's still too early to determine who is the favorite between the Democrat Quinn and state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington.

Denny Jacobs, a former state senator, said this time of year is typically when a governor addresses hundreds of legislative proposals sent by the General Assembly, after lawmakers adjourn for the summer.

"It takes a little while to read all the bills and decide which ones you're going to write. So it's only logical that July and August and even into September would be that time that you logically sign these bills anyway," he said.

But Pat Brady, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party and of no relation to the Bloomington state senator, said Quinn's public bill signings is flat-out wrong.

According to Brady, Quinn is abusing his power as governor by using public bill signings as a way to tout his gubernatorial campaign.

"You understand there's a little bit of overlap, but he's crossed way over the line in the last couple of weeks with the way he's been traveling around the state campaigning under the guise of public safety bills," he said.

On Thursday morning, Quinn appeared on Fox News Chicago to ink yet another safety proposal into law, this one dealing with traffic laws.

In the month of July, Quinn has traveled all around the city of Chicago as well as the Chicagoland area. He's also made stops in Litchfield and Springfield in central Illinois and Murphysboro and Cairo in southern Illinois.

Quinn's office reiterated that the governor is serving the state when he conducts public bill signings.

"As governor, Governor Quinn represents the entire state and travels throughout Illinois to sign pieces of legislation that will improve life for the people of Illinois," the governor's office said in a statement. "During the legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly passed hundreds of bills, and it is not possible to hold public events for each and every one. The Governor remains committed to reviewing each bill he receives and acting in the best interest of the people."

This week, Quinn has held two Chicago-area press conferences to ink two separate proposals dealing with firearms regulation. The Quinn campaign has criticized Sen. Brady for not being in the Senate chamber when one of the proposals, House Bill 5832, came to a vote.

On the other hand, Quinn did not have a public appearance Monday when he inked into law a proposal originally introduced by Brady.

Brady's proposal, Senate Bill 3411, is to mandate that the state Department of Corrections post on its website information on any inmates who were released from prison early.

The Quinn administration has had to deal with political fallout when The Associated Press first uncovered that inmates, some of them imprisoned for violent crimes, were being released under a "Meritorious Good Time" program well before their prison terms had expired.

Earlier this year, Quinn tried to distance himself from an inmate release program, calling it a "mistake."

Jacobs said Quinn is not going to go out of his way to praise Brady, despite signing his opponent's proposal.

"He's not going to give Bill Brady any advantage on anything. If Bill Brady has a good bill, which I understand that is a good bill and the governor even thought of (the bill) as a good bill ... that doesn't mean he's got to give (Brady) any play on it," he said.

[Illinois Statehouse News; By KEVIN LEE]