CHICAGO - December 15, 2011. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon submitted testimony to the Governor's Campaign Finance Reform Task Force during a public hearing today in Chicago.
Simon stated: "I would like to commend the Campaign Finance Reform Task Force for continuing the important work of the Illinois Reform Commission, which helped pass the first campaign finance limits in the history of this state. As a logical next step, I support a public finance system for judicial elections in Illinois that does not use general revenue dollars but is instead funded through an increase in court filing or lawyer registration fees. The perception that any judges could be unduly influenced by campaign contributions is something that our democracy and judicial system cannot afford to ignore."
Simon is a former Jackson County prosecutor and served on the Illinois Reform Commission, which was created by Governor Quinn in 2009 in the wake of former Governor Blagojevich's arrest. Governor Quinn created the Campaign Finance Reform Task Force in 2010 to review the implementation of the first phase of campaign finance reform and to study the feasibility of public financing or other reforms.
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