HJ0143 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Recent ethics scandals have uncovered the flow of special interest money into the hands of elected officials and have included the arrest of current and former lawmakers on charges of racketeering and mail fraud; and

WHEREAS, American voters think our political system is broken due to excessive influence of campaign contributors; 70% of Americans believe that the political system cannot respond to the country's real needs because of the influence of special interests over our lawmakers; and

WHEREAS, Americans are increasingly unwilling to participate in the political process because they believe large campaign contributions are the only way to influence our political leaders; and

WHEREAS, Candidates for elective office in Illinois are forced to raise large sums of money in order to run effective campaigns; time spent raising contributions could more effectively be spent on serving constituents; and

WHEREAS, Improving the restructuring of Illinois campaign finance laws will open opportunities for more citizen involvement and foster more dialogue among elected officials and their challengers on various political issues; it will enable voters to have more trust in the process and their representatives; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois must take action to restore public confidence by adopting stricter ethics rules; Illinois must eliminate campaign finance excesses by enacting comprehensive campaign finance laws that establish public financing of State campaigns and establish campaign contribution limits; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created a Campaign Finance Reform Task Force consisting of 4 Representatives, appointed 2 each by the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and 4 Senators, appointed 2 each by the President and Minority Leader of the Senate; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Campaign Finance Reform Task Force also may include 2 members of the general public appointed by the Governor who represent campaign finance reform organizations, and the chairperson of the Task Force may be designated by the Governor from among its members; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall study the newly enacted campaign reform laws in other states, as well as the issues and problems associated with excessive moneys that are being raised and spent by candidates for elective office in the State of Illinois, and shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly on or before December 31, 2006.