February 17, 2010 - Chicago Tribune 

You remember that charade: Illinois' first-ever caps on campaign contributions conveniently don't apply to party leaders, except in primary elections. That gives them a huge advantage over other contributors, and not by accident. The ability to bankroll campaigns (or not) is what keeps rank-and-file lawmakers in line. They're not going to give that up.

That explains what happened last week, when House Republican leader Tom Cross tried to force a vote on a measure that would fix that fatal flaw. His bill is trapped in the Rules Committee, the kiss of death. If it somehow gets out of Rules, then lawmakers will have to deal with it before the election, and they know you're watching.

So Cross put them on the spot by asking for a vote. Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan told his members to block it. They did as they were told. They always do. That's the point.

Sure, it was a political stunt, but an effective one. Cross raised the reform flag and invited the Democrats to salute. At least we know where they stand.

There's a lot of unfinished business left over from last year's clean-up-Illinois campaign. Good-government crusaders nobly pushed, but ultimately blinked. Madigan wouldn't budge on capping contributions by party leaders; it was half a loaf or nothing, he said. The reformers settled for half, which was worse than nothing. By tilting the playing field, the money limits give party leaders even more power than before.

The reformers are back, trying to finish the job, but Madigan signaled last week that he'll step on them like a bug. Now they're hard at work on a plan to change how the state's legislative districts are drawn — another nonstarter with Democrats, we suspect, since the current incumbents-first process suits them just fine. Republicans will unveil their own redistricting plan on Thursday. Let's see them get that one out of Rules.

So what is on the reform agenda this session? Good question. So far the only measures that are moving are the ones going in the wrong direction.

In January, lawmakers passed a measure requiring public school teachers' performance evaluations to be based on, of all things, performance. But the same law exempted those evaluations from the revised Freedom of Information Act, which at the time of the vote was not even two weeks old.

Suddenly it's open season on government transparency, one of the few areas in which actual progress was made last year. Half a dozen bills have been filed to roll back provisions of the new law. Some would restore oft-abused roadblocks, such as prohibitive fees, meant to thwart access to public records. Others would exclude broad categories of public records from inspection.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have dropped the ball on a number of worthy reforms.

A set of proposals to stiffen enforcement of anti-corruption laws was snuffed out last year because it "needed more study."

A plan to let voters recall executive officers or legislators was buried, yep, in the Rules Committee. Lawmakers substituted a constitutional amendment — it's on the November ballot — to allow the recall only of the governor. There's another half a loaf that conveniently spares the General Assembly.

Lawmakers couldn't even bring themselves to give up the indefensible practice of awarding college scholarships to anyone they choose.

Their actions so far this session suggest that they're finished with reforms, except for the ones they're quietly dismantling. Don't let them get away with it.

In case you missed it — and the state's Democratic leadership sincerely hopes you did — lawmakers have already put a brick on a bill that would patch the gaping hole in their phony campaign finance reform law.

By LYNNE STIEFEL This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

October 6, 2009 
Whilmette Life

With Elizabeth Coulson, the current office holder, at his side, Republican Hamilton Chang of Wilmette Tuesday announced he's running for the 17th House District in 2010.

"I am committed to reversing the fiscal irresponsibility of this state's government, to stopping its corruption and to crafting fiscal policies that can make Illinois a place for families and businesses to prosper," Chang stated on his Web site.

Born in Taiwan, Chang grew up in Flint, Mich. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and an master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.

Chang's expertise is financial structuring. He worked for Oppenheimer and Co. from 2007 through 2009 as managing director and national manager of the structured products group.

Read more: Chang gets Coulson's backing for 17th House

HB 35 is a bipartisan, common-sense approach to reforming government

SPRINGFIELD - Today, the Illinois Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, is calling on the leadership in Springfield to consider important transparency reform-a reform that would shine a spotlight on the state spending priorities that have caused the current $11.5 billion deficit.

The Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal (HB 35), sponsored by State Representative Mike Tryon, would create an online searchable database of all state expenditures, including appropriations, consultants, contracts and even salaries of employees, allowing the public to review where their tax dollars go and to whom. Further, this legislation provides the much-needed X-ray machine that will expose the problems in our state (corruption, lack of accountability, pay-to-play politics, ineffective programs, and wasteful spending). HB 35 has received bipartisan support with more than 30 lawmakers cosponsoring this legislation.

Read more: Illinois Policy Institute Calls on Legislature to Consider Transparency Reform

BY CAROL MARIN This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
July 2, 2008

Soaring taxes lead to sore taxpayers

There it was, right in front of me, the face of the Dump Todd Stroger Revolution. I witnessed it at the Starbucks on Racine and Wrightwood at 6:38 a.m. Tuesday.

The guy ahead of me was getting his usual, a grande coffee, caf not decaf.

Read more: Todd+Mike=Higher Taxes

Chicago Sun-Times - June 17, 2008
STEVE HUNTLEY This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

How to say 'no' to incompetent government

Voting matters. Sometimes folks find that out the hard way. That unhappy lot would include Cook County suburbanites jousting at windmills in their uphill campaign to secede from the county.

Two years ago these suburban residents probably didn't think it much mattered who ran county government -- only half of the registered voters cast ballots in the election that made Todd Stroger Cook County Board president. He rewarded their indifference with a big 1 percentage-point increase in the county sales tax. That will bring in more than enough money to cover a current budget shortfall -- enough to ensure more spend-thrift business-as-usual in county government for years. Now, despite the secession dreams of Palatine and a few other suburbs, voters have little choice but to wait until the 2010 elections to register their displeasure with Stroger.

Read more: Just Say No To Incompetent Government