of the Illinois Campaign Finance Task Force
To the people of Illinois, Governor Jim Edgar,
the other constitutional officers, and the Illinois General Assembly
Illinois Campaign Finance Project:
A project of Illinois Issues magazine and the Institute for Public Affairs
University of Illinois at Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
January 29, 1997
This is a report of the Illinois Campaign Finance Task Force, which was organized early in 1995 as part of the Illinois Campaign Finance Project and whose members spent two years discussing and debating campaign finance issues.
The research for this report was prepared largely by the staff of the Illinois Campaign Finance Project. The principal investigator and researcher was Professor Kent D. Redfield of the University of Illinois at Springfield. With some staff and students' assistance, he prepared a comprehensive, computerized database of 1994 election contributions and expenditures.
The sections on "Tainted Democracy" and the "Recommendations for Changing Illinois Campaign Finance Laws" are the reflections and opinions of the task force members, and not of Illinois Issues magazine, the University of Illinois at Springfield, the Joyce Foundation, or the Illinois Campaign Finance Project staff. Task force members served as individuals and not as representatives of their organizations, and so these recommendations and principles should not be construed as endorsed by the organizations or agencies which they serve or which employ them. The task force agreed on the 10 principles and the recommendations by consensus over a series of meetings in 1996. In a few cases, not all members agreed with the majority of the task force, and their "minority comments" are noted in the report.
The task force addresses this report to all of the people of Illinois, and in particular to Governor Jim Edgar, the state's other constitutional officers, and members of the Illinois General Assembly. Our aim has been, and is, to raise public awareness of campaign finance crisis in Illinois, and to elevate campaign finance reform onto the legislative agenda in 1997.