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Lawmakers Focus on Campaign Donations
A long meeting of the governor's ethics reform commission featured talk of how to fix the state's campaign financing system, with many recommendations focused on money that goes to the four legislative leaders and the state Republican and Democratic parties.

Cindi Canary, director of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, says while the legislative leaders believe donation limits will not help, she counters that the current system simply is not working. She says political scandals can be boiled down to one thing, the "unbridled quest for campaign money." She likens the system to a legal money-laundering scheme, in which organizations and companies can pump millions of dollars to the legislative leaders, who then decide to which races to transfer that money.

Retired political science professor Kent Redfield, who heads up the Sunshine Project, agrees. He says most of the campaign money doesn't go directly to Illinois House and Senate races. He says the big money goes to leaders, candidates in targeted races, constitutional officers, and political parties, only to be distributed to candidates in key races.

This commission was established by Gov. Pat Quinn shortly before then-Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted in an impeachment trial. This commission held the most recent meeting at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

(Illinois Radio Network)
02 23 09 by Newsroom
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