3, 2, 1, Reform!

Illinois Reform Commission issues its final report on Illinois Government

By ZACH CHRISTMAN

Updated 1:44 PM CST, Thu, Jul 30, 2009

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The reform commission created by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in the wake of scandals surrounding ousted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich released its final report Tuesday.

The Illinois Reform Commission's "100-day Report" urges the government to instate wide-ranging ethics reforms in six key areas: campaign finance; procurement; enforcement; government structure; transparency; and inspiring better government.

The commission's recommendations are fairly thorough and include:

Under campaign finance, it recommends limiting contributions to $2,400 for individuals and $5,000 for political committees, year-round reporting of contributions, and outright banning of contributions from lobbyists.

To curb procurement abuse, the commission wants to subject no-bid and "emergency" contracts to much tighter scrutiny and limitations, and establish an independent contract monitor to oversee and review state contracts. It also wants to provide public access to all state procurement information on one Web site.

The commission also wants to increase enforcement of ethical violations, enhancing state laws, granting the state attorney general the authority to conduct grand jury investigations into corruption, and creating an independent public corruption division within the state police.

Government structure has long been pointed to as a source of corruption, including how incumbents can re-draw the political districts they represent. To fix this, the commission wants a new law "to restore fairness to the process" of drawing those legislative districts. It also recommends term limits for more state leaders.

The commission wants to make government more transparent by applying the Open Meetings act to the Illinois General Assembly and making state government approve more Freedom of Information Act requests.

Perhaps the most subtle of their recommendations centered around inspiring better government. The commission wants to reform the state's hiring process, establish a code to guide decision-making and holding state employees accountable to the code, and revising ethics training for state workers. The report also recommends expanding whistleblower protections.