Dear Neighbor,
While Governor Blagojevich has the right to due
process, it is clear that he can not govern and should resign. The
allegations made by the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald yesterday about
Governor Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, are stunningly
serious. The federal corruption charges allege that "they and others are
engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial
benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United
States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the
Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the
firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of
Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official
actions - both historically and now in a push before a new state ethics law
takes effect January 1, 2009." Click here to read the U.S. Department of Justice's press release and click here to read the full criminal complaint against Blagojevich and Harris.
Given the nature of the allegations and our current
circumstances, there are 3 things I believe must happen. First, the
Governor can not be permitted to appoint anyone to fill the vacant U.S. Senate
seat. Both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate will reconvene in
special session next Monday, December 15th to vote to establish a
special election for the U.S. Senate seat. By law, the Governor will have
60 days to sign or veto any legislation we pass. If the Governor attempts
to appoint someone to the U.S. Senate seat there are potential actions that can
be taken by other public officials, including Harry Reid, President of the U.S.
Senate, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Secretary of State
Jesse White, to prevent the appointment.
Second, if Governor Blagojevich has not resigned by
next Monday when the Illinois House meets, the House should begin a process to
impeach Governor Blagojevich. The Illinois Constitution grants the House
of Representatives the "sole power to conduct legislative investigations to
determine the existence of cause for impeachment and, by the vote of a majority
of the members elected, to impeach Executive and Judicial officers." Thus
a majority of the Representatives (60 of the 118 members) must vote to impeach,
and the grounds for impeachment are not delineated. If the House votes to
impeach, the Illinois Senate would be convened to serve as the jury, with the
Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court presiding. Two-thirds of the
Senators (40 of the 59 members) must vote to convict. The
link to the Illinois Constitution Article IV, which includes impeachment, is available here at section 14.
Third, the culture of corruption clearly continues in
Illinois politics and must be addressed. I believe there are laws we can
enact to tackle some of the systemic problems that enable corruption to
exist. For instance, in reading the federal criminal charges, it appears
that the new pay-to-play ban the General Assembly passed last session may have
affected the Governor's alleged corrupt behavior to raise additional funds
before the state contractor ban starts on January 1, 2009. Obviously we
can not take solace in the possible reprehensible acts that violate our
collective conscience and our laws, but at least we know the ban will likely
reduce this behavior in the future. We can not stop here, however, to
change systematic corruption in Illinois government. We must cap the
overall amount any one or any company can contributed to a political
campaign. Illinois is one of only 4 states that has no limits on campaign
contributions. We must also establish transparency in lobbyist
reporting. We should know what clients are paying who to do what
work. While such changes have been difficult to address in Springfield, the
events of yesterday may provide an opportunity to push through needed
reforms. I - along with a number of my colleagues - are already
discussing how we can use these horrible circumstances to tackle these long
overdue reforms.
Illinois residents deserve - and must demand - better of
their leaders. I do not believe we will be able to get needed reforms
passed in the General Assembly without voters demanding the change. All
of us must act to put needed pressure on our elected officials. I will
keep you posted on my efforts, and hope that you and residents throughout the
state will help to ensure we use this moment in time to press for change.
Heather A. Steans
State Senator
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Office of State Senator 