Recently the Tribune ran a series of articles on state government contracts. It concluded this system of “pinstripe patronage” needs major reform.
I have introduced legislation to specifically deal with abuses in this modern day patronage system which replaces patronage jobs with patronage contracts.
House Bill 67 requires the state to seek competitive bids on “professional and artistic” contracts. As the Tribune pointed out, these “consulting contracts” are often the largest area of abuse in state government patronage. The scale of money is huge-$4.6 billion of state money is paid on contracts. Of that $4.6 billion, $1.6 billion goes to political contributors.
Competitive bidding for these lucrative contracts would help end abuses of taxpayer dollars in Illinois.
House Bill 100 lowers the ceiling on no-bid state contracts from $25,000 to $5,000. This would also cut down on abuse on no-bid contracts and save taxpayer dollars.
I am also sponsoring legislation that requires competitive bidding for real-estate leases, and stops the awarding of state contracts to anyone who contributes more than $1,000 to a state elected official.
There is new hope for reform this year with media attention focused on contractual abuses and with many newly elected, reform-minded legislators. Even with these factors on our side, I need public support to pass these measures. Readers can write to Gov. Edgar and their state representative and state senator to ask them to support House Bills 67, 100, 103 and 119.
