Seems there is a growing movement within Illinois to address ethics in state government after the Blagojevich, since he was the fourth of recent eight Illinois governors caught up in a corruption-related charge...
(the other three being George Ryan, currently serving out a 6-year sentence for a federal corruption conviction, Daniel Walker, later convicted in the savings & loan fraud, and Otto Kerner Jr. who died after serving three years in prison for taking bribes).
The folks over at Deep Blue Illinois have proposed a rather simple next action for incoming governor Pat Quinn.
Setting aside resolution of the now infamous vacant U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President-elect Barack Obama, the first thing the new Governor should do is immediately invite Cindy Canary’s Crew, a.k.a. the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the Better Government Association, the Civic Federation, the League of Women Voters of Illinois and every other good government group to join with lawmakers from both parties at a "Governor’s Summit on Ethics Reform" to lay out a punch list of reform measures that ought to be part of a larger strategy of reclaiming Illinois government.
There is a sample agenda with several key government reform ideas posted as well. I can think of a couple things to add to that list and if you think of some of your own feel free to post them.
- Supporting public funding of all state-wide public elections in Illinois.
- Immediate release of state spending "as-it-happens." This is a public checkbook, everyone should be able to see where the money goes just like with any other bank account.
- State-wide database and website revealing lobbying firms, their employees and connections individuals in government.
Any other ideas? I hope Deep Blue Illinois is able to build some support for this type of meeting. We're willing to help!