July 23, 2010
To the Honorable Members of the
Illinois House of
Representatives,
96th General
Assembly:
In accordance with
Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution, I hereby return House
Bill 4836 with specific recommendations for change.
This legislation creates the Sunshine
Commission to conduct a thorough review of each State executive branch program
to determine its relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness
I applaud the
General Assembly for taking steps to consolidate state government programs and
make existing programs more efficient. As Governor, I have cut costs,
eliminated waste, and maximized efficiencies while providing jobs and
high-quality services for citizens throughout our State.
However, the
Sunshine Commission created by this bill cannot possibly make a thorough
recommendation as to the efficacy of state programs. To fully examine how best
to maximize resources for the people of Illinois, the Commission must represent
the interests of all the people of our State. As presently constituted, this
Commission represents only a limited number of corporate special interests. The
people of our State deserve better.
Finally, the
Commission created by this bill will operate outside the scrutiny of the
public; it promises sunshine in name only. The people of the State of Illinois have a right to know how effectively their government is serving them, and to be
able to access this information in an easy, convenient way. To that end, I
believe the Commission should not only submit its report to the General
Assembly, but also hold public hearings and post its report on the internet.
Therefore, pursuant to Article IV, Section
9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 4836,
entitled “AN ACT concerning State government.” with the following specific
recommendations for change:
on page 1, line 9, by replacing
“General Assembly” with “General Assembly, 4 members appointed by the
Governor,”; and
on page 1, by replacing lines 15
through 17 with “sector experience in the field of banking, finance, social
services, health care, labor, education, or accounting.”; and
on page 2, line 20, after
“review.”, by inserting “The Commission shall hold no less than 6 public
meetings in different regions of the State and allow for public comment during
the meetings. The Commission shall comply with the provisions of the Open
Meetings Act.”; and
on page 2, by replacing line 22 with “Commission shall submit to the General Assembly and
post on an Internet website maintained by the State of Illinois a written,”;
and
on page 3, by replacing line 6 with “Assembly and posted on an Internet website
maintained by the State of Illinois, each house of the General Assembly must
vote upon the same joint resolution”.
With
these changes, House Bill 4836 will have my approval. I respectfully request
your concurrence.
Sincerely,
Pat Quinn
Governor
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