Pat Quinn, Man on the Run

By Kevin Robinson in News on Feb 4, 2009 3:50PM

Shortly after meeting with President Barack Obama and the other big wigs in D.C. today, Governor Pat Quinn announced that he will focus on passing the much needed, (and much delayed) capital spending bill. Setting April 3 as the date, Quinn told the press that "it will give us a target to shoot at and keep an urgent approach," and mentioned that while he planned to present the date to the legislature Wednesday, he had already discussed it privately with some members of the General Assembly. "We will (pass a capital bill)," said Quinn, adding that he will present the bill, along with the rest of his budget, to the public and the legislature on March 18.

Also on Tuesday, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton announced a joint legislative committee to undertake sweeping government ethics legislation to address reforms badly needed after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich. "A sad lesson from the recent impeachment and conviction of former Gov. Blagojevich is that we need to strengthen Illinois laws concerning the operation of state ethics commissions, procurement policy and to safeguard pension funds," said Cullerton.

A resolution before the legislature will establish a 16-member panel to address the "integrity crisis that is as grave as the financial crisis that confronts our nation." That legislation could be voted on this week. Both Madigan and Cullerton have instructed their legal teams to meet with Pat Quinn's new Reform Commission on Thursday to discuss pending ethics legislation as well as new ideas to combat corruption and make state government more transparent.