Senator Coburn released a report last month detailing 100 pork projects in the stimulus bill. Score one against wasteful government spending.

He also cosponsored “The Patients’ Choice Act of 2009” with Senator Richard Burr and Representatives Paul Ryan and Devin Nunes, which, in the face of so much talk about government health care, would put health care decisions in the hands of patients rather than government bureaucrats.

Now he has added an amendment to an appropriations bill in Congress that would put the expenses of all Senate offices online. This follows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s instructions to put all House members’ expenses online by August 31st.

It sure would be great if Illinois had something like this. Will one of our legislators like to take the lead for good government?

Cynthia Canary, executive director of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said of the bill, “He [Quinn] has called this ‘historic’ campaign finance reform. It’s historic, all right, kind of like the sinking of the Titanic, you know? It’s bad history.” House Minority Leader Tom Cross called the bill “an illusion of change.”

The bill limits campaign contributions from individuals to $5,000, corporations and labor unions to $10,000, and allows legislative leaders to transfer up to $90,000 a year to House and Senate candidates.  Quinn’s own Illinois Reform Commission recommended no more than $2,400 from individuals, and $5,000 from corporations and labor unions.  They also called for a cap of $30,000 on political committee contributions.
Representative Harry Osterman gave the standard excuse of the night for supporting the weak reform bill: “I look at tonight as a step in the right direction.”  Perhaps it is, but it’s all too obvious that Illinois needs far more than this to begin to fix itself.

Are lawmakers scared of losing some of their own power?  Probably, but it does show how “sincere” lawmakers are about reform and transparency.