Illinois Becomes 18th State to Move Democratic Process into 21st Century and Allow Online Voter Registration, One of Quinn's 2013 Priorities

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today signed legislation revising the Illinois Election Code to give residents the ability to register to vote online. First proposed by Governor Quinn during his 2013 State of the State address, Illinois is now the 18th state to allow online voter registration. Today's action is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to increase participation in our democracy and ensure that every voice is heard in Illinois.

"Democracy works best when as many voters as possible raise their voices at the ballot box," Governor Quinn said. "Online voter registration will encourage more people to fulfill their civic duty by making that first step of registering to vote easier and more accessible. This new law will boost registration rates, cut costs and move Illinois' democratic process into the 21st century."

The 17 states that currently offer online voter registration have realized its benefits which include higher voter registration rates - particularly among young people - and lower processing costs.

"Online voter registration is the biggest advancement in expanding the electorate since Motor Voter passed 20 years ago," Cook County Clerk David Orr said. "I've long supported online voter registration because it's a convenient, secure way for voters to get registered and start participating."

"Online voter registration brings Illinois' election process into the 21st century," House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) said. "Making it easier for people to exercise one of our most fundamental and significant rights - the right to vote - is good for democracy."

"This law will increase participation in our democracy," State Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) said. "But it will do more than that. It will also save the state money. Processing a paper registration costs 83 cents. Processing an online application costs 3 cents."

Online voter registration is part of House Bill 2418 - the "Omnibus Elections Bill" - which includes other provisions, such as:

·         Changing the hours for early voting on Sundays from 9:00 a.m. -  Noon, to Noon -  3:00 p.m., to enable broader participation;

·         Requiring the State Board of Elections to post precinct-by-precinct totals for all of the state's precincts, and,

·         Codifying that votes cast for a candidate who drops out before Election Day but remains on the ballot will not be counted.

States that offer online voter registration include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Four more states - Delaware, New Mexico, New York and Ohio - have modified versions. Online voter registration is expected to be in place in Illinois by the 2014 General Election.

Earlier this month, Governor Quinn signed a law to allow 17-year olds who will turn 18 by the time of the general election to participate in that cycle's primary election. According to FairVote, 20 other states permit 17-year-olds to vote in the primary election.

New Law Requires Unpaid Furlough Days, Prohibits Cost of Living Adjustments

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today signed a new law that limits compensation for many of Illinois' elected officials. This action is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to rein in the cost of government in Illinois, ensure accountability and return Illinois to sound financial footing.

"I will continue to take every step necessary to restore fiscal stability to our state," Governor Quinn said. "The civic duty of an elected official requires a commitment to the greater good of the people of Illinois. I commend the legislators who voted for this bill and I encourage them to work just as hard to get the job done on public pension reform, the most important fiscal challenge of our time."

House Bill 1441, sponsored by State Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg) and Senate President John J. Cullerton (D-Chicago), requires every member of the Illinois General Assembly to take one unpaid furlough day per month during Fiscal Year 2014, which starts July 1. It also prohibits any cost of living increases in FY 2014 for General Assembly members, state constitutional officers, state's attorneys, and certain appointed state offices and board and commission members. In addition, the legislation sets lodging, meal and mileage reimbursement rates for all General Assembly session days at the same rate that has been in effect for the last three years.

The new law takes effect July 1.

September 4, 2012 - Charlotte, North Carolina

Delegates and fellow Americans, it is an honor to be with you this evening.

And it's an honor to represent the great state of Illinois, the home of President Barack Obama!

Tonight, I want to talk to you about a scary subject for many, many Republicans. I want to talk about facts.

You know, I watched the Republican National Convention last week.

And I heard a lot of things that are simply not true.

One of our founding fathers, President John Adams of Massachusetts, once said that "facts are stubborn things."

But last week, as they nominated a very different man from Massachusetts, Republicans stubbornly smeared President Obama's excellent record of reforming welfare.

They went on and on, pretending that he weakened its work requirement.

Everyone knows that is a ridiculous charge.

Even the Republican author of welfare reform says Romney is wrong.

Fact-checkers have called this talking point "blatantly false," "a drastic distortion," "widely debunked," and "a mind-boggling act of untruth telling."

In Illinois, we know President Barack Obama.

We know his record.

And we know that President Obama has made sure that work is always part of welfare.

As an Illinois State Senator, Barack Obama spearheaded welfare reform in the Land of Lincoln.

And the fact is, under President Obama, states can get flexibility only if they move 20 percent more people to work.

Let me repeat that for our Republican friends: more people working, not less.

Then there's Medicare.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to take away the promise that makes Medicare, Medicare. They want to give seniors a voucher that caps what Medicare will cover, and then tell seniors they're on their own for what's left.

That would cost seniors thousands of dollars a year. And if they don't have the money, it could cost them their lives.

But that didn't stop Romney and Ryan from telling the American people that their plan won't hurt seniors. The fact is, it will.

President Obama's plan will protect Medicare, and protect our seniors.

Facts are stubborn things.

Now, when Paul Ryan got his turn, he blamed President Obama for a plant that closed under President George W. Bush.

Here's a fact:

When President Obama took office in January 2009, the Chrysler plant in Belvidere, Illinois, employed just 200 people.

Today, because President Obama saved the auto industry, that same Chrysler plant is employing more than 4,000 American workers.

There's something else the Republicans left out of their convention: any explanation of why they call Mitt Romney "Governor Romney."

We already knew this extreme conservative man takes some pretty liberal deductions. Evidently that includes writing off all four years he served as governor of Massachusetts.

And if you want to know how someone's going to govern the country, look at how he governed his state.

Mitt Romney promised Massachusetts three things: more jobs, less debt and smaller government.

Then he left his state 47th out of 50 in job growth, added $2.6 billion in debt and on his watch, government jobs grew six times faster than private-sector jobs.

What does Romney promise today?

More jobs, less debt and smaller government.

But he didn't do it then, and he won't do it now.

From day one, President Obama has told you where he stands, what he believes and what he is doing to make our middle class strong again.

America is moving forward under President Obama's leadership - and that's a fact.

Now it's our job in the next nine weeks to make sure that the American people know the facts.

Your vote is a valuable thing. Entrust it to someone who respects you enough to tell you the truth.

Join me in voting for President Obama and together let's make the will of the people the law of the land.

Thank you very much.

New law makes Illinois one of the first states to prevent employers from demanding social network passwords

CHICAGO - August 1, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today signed a new law protecting current and prospective employees' right to privacy in the fast-growing world of social media. House Bill 3782 makes it illegal for an employer to request an employee's or job candidate's social network account information, such as username or password, in order to gain access to their account or profile. Illinois is the second state to enact such a law.

"Members of the workforce should not be punished for information their employers don't legally have the right to have," Governor Quinn said. "As use of social media continues to expand, this new law will protect workers and their right to personal privacy."

Sponsored by Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), HB 3782 prevents employers from screening potential job candidates or reprimanding current employees based on information from their social network accounts that would otherwise be private. The new law protects workers' privacy and their choice to make certain information from their social network accounts private.

"Employers certainly aren't allowed to ask for the keys to an employee's home to nose around there, and I believe that same expectation of personal privacy and personal space should be extended to a social networking account," said Leader Radogno, who pointed out employers are not allowed to ask employees or job applicants about age, sex, race, or sexual orientation?all information that could be easily gleaned from a social networking site. "This law will not only protect employees' reasonable rights to privacy on the Web, but will shield employers from unexpected legal action."

The law's definition of social networking sites does not include email, and it does not prevent employers from obtaining information in the public domain about current or prospective employees.

"Social networking accounts are places where we document the personal and private aspects of our lives, and employers have realized they can get answers to questions they are already prohibited from asking by gaining unfettered access to our accounts," Ford said. "This legislation may protect employers from future lawsuits as much as it protects employees and jobseekers."

The law is effective Jan. 1.