This spring, after a second all-out lobbying effort, the Fair Dealing Act–more often referred to as the Wirtz Bill–passed both houses of the state legislature and was signed into law by Gov. George Ryan. This bill gives near-monopoly powers to a handful of liquor distributors in the state, one of which is Judge & Dolph, owned by the Wirtz family.
The Tribune reported how the Illinois legislature was persuaded to pass, and why Gov. Ryan signed, a bill that could cost Illinois consumers millions of dollars (Page 1, Nov. 12) The reason it passed, we are told, is not the more than $120,000 in campaign contributions–more than $50,000 of that to Gov. Ryan alone–but the possible jobs loss.
That’s right, the jobs. Judge & Dolph employs 3,500 people. If the company were threatened, so would be those jobs. To drive home this point the lobbyists for the Judge & Dolph people gave Frango mints to all the legislators. The Frango manufacturing operation, of course, had just moved out of state.
The message was: Without this law passing, Illinois would lose the liquor distribution jobs, just like we had lost the Frango mint jobs.
There is just one small flaw in this logic: By definition, distribution jobs can leave a company but can’t logically leave the state. That would be like firing your mailman and hiring one living in Mexico. The logistics just don’t work.
Arizona passed a Clean Money campaign financing system last November. In this system, candidates must solicit a certain number of $5 donations, which then qualifies them to receive public financing. Gov. Ryan asserts the $50,000 contribution to his campaign “didn’t have any influence” on his decision to support the Wirtz bill.
If the most you could contribute were $5, no one would question if donations influenced legislation. We need campaign finance reform in Illinois, and we need it yesterday.
